Fate: Heaven's Works
by badliar 2312
Summary: Distortion. A twist of the natural order, an unnatural state of a person that could be caused by great pain and suffering. A distorted person cannot be called normal, nor can he be truly turned from his path once he is set upon it. But, if it was directed, focused... then the distortion may become beneficial. Either to himself... or to others. Such is Shirou Emiya's principle.
1. Prologue

So, dear readers, welcome to Fate: Heaven's Works. This is the re-boot of Fate: Strange Prototype, the one-shot of Fate/Stay Night that I've written.

To those of you who have read the one-shot, I hope that this first chapter is good enough. It still has some of the elements of the one-shot, but I've given it a little more detail, so as to give a slight idea of what's really going on with Shirou.

And to those of you who have not read the one-shot, I welcome you all the same, and hope that this story will satisfy you.

So without further ado, let's begin.

**DISCLAIMER: **Type-Moon owns the Fate/ series.

* * *

**Prologue: Keep Calm and Trace On.  
**

* * *

All he could see... is an endless desert... devoid of life...

A pair of amber eyes gazed unto the perpetual twilight sky resting upon the desolate land... the gazer's spiky red hair was blown slightly by the soft winds that brought a melodious tune to his ears.

An orchestration of clinking clockworks. Of the moving gears that give power to the machine that they serve.

Such a thing of beauty to his ears, though so esoteric in its beauty that to most, it would serve them with only annoyance.

...

Though organic and natural in its appearance, the desert holds a great mystery.

A mystery that only he knows...

A mystery that only he can use...

And a mystery that only he could truly master...

And to both his pride and shame, a mystery that he has yet to divulge to anyone else save for a few...

...

The arrival of a new presence, one basked in darkness, made the red-haired person turn his gaze to where the presence currently was.

And there stood a shadow, possessing a vague outline of a human being, but the being was clearly something both beyond and less than a human.

A displeasing, pitiable, and terrifying existence to behold.

The red-haired person and the shadow stared at each other, each of them were locked in their positions as if two statues that was specifically created to symbolize an everlasting struggle between two opposing forces of nature.

Then from the upper body section of the shadow-like being that resembled a human head, a mouth was formed.

Without a lip, the mouth only showed a set of human-like teeth... and then it began to stretch its mouth from one side to the other... as if trying to mimic a smile.

Then the eyes were formed, a pair of eyes so big and so wrong to be placed unto it that it was beyond any kind of logical thinking to justify its twisted appearance, even to call it an aberration would be an understatement.

Then it stretched its arms outward, its fingers, save for its thumbs were melded together, as if it were a child's doll.

The shadow being began to drip its darkness out... as if it were a doll given with so much ink inside that it begins to blot out of its body.

Yet the redhead kept his watchful gaze towards the abomination of the natural world, and then, as if to challenge it...

He _smiled back._

And then he began to recite his oath... his promise that he made to the world, himself, and those that he valued highly.

_**...I am the-**_

But then came the blinding light...

...

* * *

...

A pair of amber eyes opened.

And a red-headed boy found himself staring at the ceiling with his back lying on a futon.

"...That damn dream again..." he muttered out loud before he rose up from his bed with a yawn, he then looked at the clock before saying; "5:12 A.M huh...? Well... better prepare myself for school..."

The boy then walked out of the bedroom to start his usual routine before he goes to Homurahara Academy where he spend his time as a student.

His name is Shirou Emiya. A boy that would seem rather unremarkable if one were to judge him from a first glance, his short yet spiky red hair and the pair of amber eyes were the only thing that made him noticeable.

To those who know him, he was like his name, Shirou, blank as a paper, and as plain and as unassuming as one.

But to those who _truly_ know him, which is to say, a very few number that could be counted with only one hand, he was anything but 'white'.

And to those who have a keen insight on human behavior, they would see him as mysterious. After all, in his school, the only thing remarkable that his colleagues thought of him was his humility and his meekness. Though he is slightly taller than his friends, his body language could be said as someone submissive, and his speech was something that one would expect from someone without a figurative backbone.

But like everyone else, he holds his true self within. And, like many others, he would only show this true self of his to those he deemed trustworthy enough to know.

"SHIROOOOU! Have you woken up yet?!"

...One of which was the woman who was screaming at the top of her lungs as she entered the gate entrance to his house.

Shirou sighed, he was just finished bathing and was about to finish wearing his apron to prepare breakfast when the woman arrived with a shout that would've woken up the whole neighborhood from their sleep had she arrived much earlier.

He walked to the entrance and slid the door open.

"Good morning Shirou!" greeted a brown-haired woman styled in ponytail wearing a green summer dress over her long-sleeved yellow shirt with black stripes as she energetically raised her hand in greetings.

"Morning Fuji-nee." Shirou answered before he continued with; "How many times do I have to tell you to tone your shouts down a bit?" he asked her.

"Oh don't be such a tight-ass Shirou! In fact, I should be scolding you for not being so energetic! You are a young man after all, it's only normal for someone of your age to act like me! So, in your place, I shall always show you how you should behave!" the woman explained with so much gusto that Shirou was almost impressed.

The keyword being _almost, _as the redhead merely give the energetic woman a deadpan stare and said; "Going by that logic, you should _stop_ behaving like that. After all, you're an adult, not a teenager like me."

Taiga was silent before she pointed her finger at Shirou and contorted her face into an expression of anger and exclaimed, "D-don't be crazy!"

"It's a valid point Fuji-nee, either accept or deny it." Shirou said.

Then, her eyes began to well up as she gasped dramatically, "Ah... Shirou... how could you say that to your own guardian? After all that she had done to take care of you...?" she asked as she struck a pose identical to the one usually used by a theater actress to convey her despair, "To think... that I have failed to teach you how to properly behave to one's elders... I have failed you Kiritsugu-san...! But surely you wouldn't be proud of how your son treated me...!" she shouted towards the sky in an attempt to make Shirou retract his statement.

Shirou's right eye twitched at the childish woman's antics, he then said this to defuse the situation, "Your attempt to sway me with crocodile tears will not work Fuji-nee, and because of your statement regarding dad's disapproval about me, then feel free to have your stomach be fulfilled by the breakfast of your making rather than mine."

Shirou then began to close the sliding doors...

But found resistance when it was a couple of inches away from being fully closed.

Taiga had to use both of her hands in an attempt to to prevent Shirou from fully closing the door, his upper body strength proved equal to hers, and so, she added a little bit more effort at something else to prevent Shirou from giving her breakfast, "Nooooooooo~! Shiroooou! Don't do iiiiit! I'm sorry! I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!"

After a brief struggle and plethora of apologies from Taiga, Shirou relented and opened the door, "Alright, fine... come inside Fuji-nee."

"Thank you so much Shirou~!" Taiga shouted with tears coming down from her eyes as she hugged Shirou tightly.

The redhead merely patted her back twice, "Yes yes... now go wait in the dining room while I prepare breakfast, okay?"

Taiga released Shirou immediately and saluted him with a grin, "Sir yes sir!" said Taiga before she went the dining room and sat on one of the chairs dutifully.

Shirou merely smiled and sighed as he shook his head, he had gotten so used to the woman's antics that he knows the best way to deal with her whenever her antics have gone overboard or it really annoyed him.

That was the latter.

Nevertheless, he wordlessly decided to make some breakfast for her, after all, she _is_ his guardian.

Even if she never acts like it...

...

* * *

...

Walking towards the Homurahara Academy clad in his student uniform, the redhead kept his head slightly tilted downwards and he kept his posture as relaxed as possible, as apparent by his hands that were tucked into the pockets of his pants.

After he had finished his breakfast and Taiga finished hers, she was the first one to leave for school, being a teacher has its downsides after all, one of which is the requirement to arrive at school before the required time for the students to arrive.

A necessity that she really hates to do.

But she always do it nonetheless, a fact that makes him rather glad, for despite her demeanor, she can show a surprising degree of responsibility when the situation calls for it.

It _almost _makes up for her incompetence at cooking, cleaning, being mature, and overall, the things that a normal adult should be able to do.

Almost.

But still, despite all of that, Shirou doesn't truly hate her. Annoyed? More so than what other people who had seen their interaction might think. But hate?

No.

After all, he noticed her loyalty and genuine care for him, that alone puts her as someone that he could see as a close friend.

But, never as a role model.

An understandable notion, considering her usual behavior.

"Sempai!"

Turning to the source of the voice, Shirou saw a purple-haired girl with an equally purple eyes come running down from the street that he passed by.

"Sakura." Shirou greeted the girl.

Sakura Matou, she's Shirou's underclassman whom he had befriended when they were little.

He remembered how she was surrounded by bullies who picked on her because of the fact that they're bigger and were in a group. He remembered how angry he was and how he jumped to defend her from the bullies without thinking...

...And how he managed to brutally beat them to submission.

He didn't remember what exactly happened, one moment he was in front of the girl, extending his hands in a gesture that said he must be passed if they want to bully her further, and when the biggest kid directed a punch at him...

His mind went blank... and the next thing he saw was the bloodied, bruised, and beaten face of the biggest kid of the group whose shirt's collar he had grabbed in his 'blackout' as he used his right hand to beat his face to the point where his fingers were covered in the kid's warm blood and his finger's bones were cracked slightly due to the amount of power he had used when he went... berserk.

The other kids who apparently tried to help their leader was also scattered around his proximity, lying on the ground, moaning in pain and crying out of the agony that he had inflicted upon them.

It was thanks to his father who was nearby the area that he managed to get away with it. But he did get the coldest and longest scolding of his life afterwards.

Then he would always meet the girl at the park where he saved her ever since then, and he knew that she felt indebted to him, and looked up to him as a role model, someone that she aspires herself to be.

Someone strong, loyal, and wouldn't hesitate to help those who are in need.

A hero.

He smiled when she called him that, he felt a little proud that someone had given that title to him, especially when it's his friend.

Returning to the present he saw as Sakura walked towards him and said; "I'm sorry I didn't come to your home Sempai... I was... occupied." she said rather bashfully as she tilted her head to the side, avoiding his face.

Shirou always had a gut feeling that something's not quite right about Sakura, it's as if she's wearing a mask...

Of course, to his knowledge, many people wear masks. Masks that served the purpose of hiding their problems, their true selves, their hatred, their affections.

But hers... is different.

Yet despite all these years, he still couldn't figure out what it was exactly.

But then again, unless she wanted to tell him the true extent of what she's hiding, he will not pry. After all, he will honor her privacy.

Still, that doesn't mean he likes being forced to just observe her instead of acting out to figure out what's wrong.

"It's no problem." he replied back to her as they began to walk to school side by side, a moment's silence was broken when he said; "Though Fuji-nee was kinda loud when I stalled her breakfast... purposefully."

Sakura giggled at picturing the image of what Shirou did, the infamously childish teacher's antics is rather well-known amongst the populace of whether the school or the neighborhood of Shirou's house, there's not a single citizen who doesn't know about Taiga Fujimura, the textbook example of the term man-child.

Except with the gender being reversed of course.

"That was mean of you Sempai." said Sakura, though her giggles was an indication that it wasn't a scold.

Shirou smirked and said; "Nah, it's all in good fun. It's rather funny seeing her reactions, so..." he trailed off and shrugged, "...yeah".

Afterwards, they spent the time walking to school talking about a certain childish teacher's antics whenever she's deliberately deprived of her need to eat the food that Shirou makes.

Such antics that would've fit just right in a gag fiction series.

...

* * *

...

_Late Afternoon..._

The sound of the bell that rang throughout the school signaled the end of the school's curriculum activities, and as such, the students of the Homurahara Academy began to pack their bags to go home.

But one Shirou Emiya packed his bag to do his informal duty as the 'helper' of the school.

One's moniker at school was usually made due to how they act in school, and for Shirou, his famous moniker is 'Fake Janitor', a name that wouldn't normally bring pride to the poor soul who was given that particular name.

Then again, to the redhead, the name isn't something to be ashamed of.

It defines him perfectly if he had to give an opinion.

For he is a person that would always offer help whenever necessary, and a person who wouldn't turn his back from someone if they needed him the most.

A 'Janitor' who would help someone and fix things without thinking of any repayment whatsoever, a 'Janitor' that would give his all at everything that he had been ordered to no matter how small it was, a 'Janitor' that would finish any beneficial task that was given to him with utmost perfection.

It made him chuckle as how these simple things would go way over people's heads... the 'Janitor' moniker could be equaled to 'Helper', which could then be interpreted into 'Hero'. If one were to interpret it as such, they wouldn't be completely wrong to assume that way. And it was the reason why he accepted the seemingly degrading nickname.

"Emiya." called a bespectacled student as he walked closer to him.

"Issei." he greeted his friend, "You ready to go?"

Issei Ryuudou sighed with a rather knowing smile as he said; "I am, let's go Emiya."

The bespectacled young man is Shirou's friend who is also the President of the Student Body of the Academy. The one whom he considered as his closest male friend thus far. Mostly due to his lack of friends otherwise besides a few exception...

Out of all his colleagues, Issei stood out as being the one who actually liked him for what he is, almost everybody else were reluctant to befriend Shirou due to how he behaves, they would spend their time to talk small things to him or something similar, but in the end, despite his rather likable behavior, his existence as 'Fake Janitor' didn't get him as much popularity as the star player of one of their academy's sports club.

It's not that he isn't famous around his school, but it doesn't give him a 'good' reputation.

Ah the narrow-mindedness of people, always willing to overlook someone just because of what a majority of people defined him or her as.

Although...

...

As Issei looked around his surroundings, the Student Body's President saw that there were some mutterings that were made by some of the girls as they looked towards his direction...

...Or to be more exact, towards his friend.

Shirou Emiya, despite his upstanding attitude, his exceptional diligence, and his intelligence that could be seen as above average considering the almost always excellent results of his exams, is not someone who could notice a unique niche that he had created.

There are many girls who are attracted to him, in their class alone there's probably two or three girls whose attentions he had captured.

Maybe it's because of how he acts, or how well he does in school, or how he's one of the nicest -though a bit blunt- guy you will ever find within and outside the academy.

Or, as Issei had suspected, it may be caused by his aura. Usually, one can see another's personality by his or her body language alone, an identification process that would lead us to assume whether or not someone is arrogant or shy, prideful or meek, and so on.

And this body language, will in turn, affect our aura, an arrogant person's presence would make the others roll their eyes and turn away from him immediately, while a shy person's presence would make others try to be more polite around him.

Shirou's body language always make people think that he's a reserved person, a body language that should've belonged to someone who's shy and/or meek, and, by proxy, a pacifist who hates fighting.

But his aura is anything but.

His presence seems... empowering, enlightening, even to the point of physically refreshing, and it makes it easy for other people to see him as an affable person.

Prideful, yet not too arrogant. Empowering, yet not overbearing... his aura is what makes him _feel _unique, despite _looking _rather mundane.

Either way, because of this, he alone had no knowledge about his second nickname besides 'Fake Janitor', a name that was known amongst some of the girls in the school...

'The Humble Prince'.

Such a sappy nickname, and Issei thought that if Shirou knew about it, he would agree with him.

But Issei had to admit that it also fits him well. As despite his friend's reserved stature...

His gaze and his aura practically _screamed _the word royalty.

The President of the Student Body shook his head to bring himself back to the present, he then turned to Emiya and thought; 'You know Emiya, sometimes I wonder how could someone like you have some traits that are so contradictory to each other?'

But despite the contradicting traits that he has, Issei found that he could and should trust him.

He always have this instinct that allows him to tell whether someone is worthy of his trust or not.

And he found that he could not find a better place to put it than to him.

And never once did he regret this decision.

...

* * *

...

_Hours later..._

The feeling of electricity being sent to one's nervous system. The mental trigger needed for Shirou's circuits to be activated.

The trigger that he had been picturing for the past hours to use his Structural Grasp to see the source of the problem that afflicts the heater that he's currently fixing.

The technique was the reason why he's so adept at fixing things, for he does not need to break them open to know the problem and risking the possibility of making things worse.

Though it was a magecraft that would give him nothing of use in combat situation due to its mundane capability compared to the other branches magecraft, Shirou's affinity to it is so strong that he could master it to the point where it's ingrained onto his very instinct.

Whenever he sees something, despite the fact that he doesn't actively use his Structural Grasp when he does so, he would have a glimpse of blueprint about whatever it was that he see. Machines, animals, people, all of their very being were seen as bits of flashes, and from there, his brain would create a conclusion from the limited yet somewhat thorough knowledge.

Though this ability is rather limited, because whenever he couldn't get enough information, the conclusion that he comes up with would often times be the wrong one. As is the case with Sakura, few clues lead him to a limited assumption.

But, if he channeled his prana to thoroughly see through something, the amount of information that he would receive would be far greater and far more detailed. Such as the date of its creation, the materials that were used to make it, the amount of times it has been used, and so forth.

Though he could understand why a magus would abandon such Magecraft, at a glance, it would seem rather... useless.

But then again, considering the unsavory characters of most magus out there as was told by his father who once worked for several of them, he deduced that they would consider it beneath them to learn a seemingly useless branch of Magecraft.

Something that adds to his pride, to master something that most magus in the world wouldn't even bother to look because of their arrogance.

After all, Shirou adhered the philosophy that every lesson that one could undertake, no matter how small or how seemingly insignificant they are, always have something to impart unto its practitioner.

If only they knew what a master of both Structural Grasp and Reinforcement Magecraft could do to their own body...

Shirou grinned wryly at that thought, not just because_ he _already _knew_ thanks to a certain someone, but because most magus are too proud of themselves or too reluctant to try to experiment such dangerous methods to themselves.

And not to mention, the pain that they would receive had some of them were willing to take that risk?

A normal magus would've abandoned their cause immediately afterwards.

But then again, the word normal is not applicable to him...

He took a breather and looked at his surroundings.

A sight that greeted him is the plethora of electronic applications that has already been fixed, a result of nearly three hours of him working his butt off without even taking a minute to stop.

Yet, he doesn't seem fazed or tired from utilizing a hefty amount of prana to fix them. The only thing that could give a clue that he did something rather tiring was the little amount of sweat trailing down his forehead.

"(sigh), alright... with that's done..." he said as he took his bag and walked towards the exit door of the storage, "...It's time for me to leave."

...

Locking the storage door after he exited it, Shirou began his walk towards the school entrance to go home.

It was currently night time in Fuyuki City, the night where the full moon shined brightly on the onyx sky above, a cool breeze that went past him was the indication that the season of spring had only just begun and that the winter's grasp hadn't left just yet.

As he was about to approach the school's courtyard...

**"CLANG!"**

The sound of clashing steels distracted him.

A familiar sound, not unlike the sound that was made when two melee weapons made of steel such as swords or spears clashed against each other. A sound that was ingrained unto him thanks to a regiment of hellish training from his former mentor.

His eyes narrowed, someone is fighting on the school grounds.

Not students, not teachers, because as far as Shirou's knowledge extends, nobody in the school is very proficient with weapons to make such noise that would indicate the fighters' strength and power that was beyond normal.

For the echoes that they made reverberated throughout the school grounds.

He shifted his posture from an unassuming one to one that shows his true self. A posture that defines the word strength.

Approaching the courtyard, Shirou Emiya was prepared for any kind of possibility...

...Including this.

Two men... no, two warriors are currently fighting each other in a fight that would look like the stuff that comes out from stories of legendary heroes from the era of mythologies.

One of them is a white-haired man with a tanned skin wearing a black armor and strange-looking coat of which there was only its 'tail' that reached his knees and a pair of long sleeves over its intricate-looking armor. He used a pair of black and white falchions that Shirou knew to be intertwined to each other in someway, but a single glance wasn't enough for him to determine what other properties that they hold.

The other is a blue-haired man wearing a tight bodysuit that is also colored in blue, his shoulders were covered in steel pauldrons integrated into the bodysuit. He used a crimson spear that radiated power of some kind. Shirou knew immediately that the person's spear is something worthy to be feared by most people.

But to him, it only warranted his caution.

He watched the fight began to intensify as the chaos that is their bout turned rather chaotic and near-imperceptible to the eyes of normal human.

Which was why Reinforcement came in handy.

It enabled Shirou to see each and every one of the attacks, deflections, counters, blocks, and evasion that each of them made. All with a simple payment of a small amount of pain.

Years of training and his innate talent at Reinforcement were the only things that prevented him from miscalculating and making his eyes bleed profusely.

But in his reverie, a simple mistake was made...

And it gave off his location to the combatants who turned and saw him standing near the edge of the courtyard with a hardened gaze.

The blue-haired lanceman clicked his tongue as he narrowed his eyes, "Ck! A witness...!"

Shirou's gaze turned to him, and much to his slight surprise, the blue-haired lanceman flinched nigh-imperceptibly.

And it took only one second for Shirou to turn his back away and run.

Though despite the velocity that his body is currently making thanks to Reinforcement Magecraft, the young man's mind is as calm as the mind of a meditating monk.

He ran to the door leading to the school building, and using his already Reinforced body, he broke down the door with his charge.

He then used the stairs to reach the upper level, he passed by sets upon sets of stairs until he reached the door leading to the roof.

Which was locked tight with a padlock.

Channeling his prana to his hands, he enacted a focused and enhanced Reinforcement into his right hand, he clenched his right hand tightly and with a swing directed to the padlock...

...It was destroyed into several bits.

He barged the door open and he was greeted with an empty roof, as suspected and preferred.

Walking to the middle of the roof, Shirou took a breather after running with a speed that shouldn't be possible for a human who hasn't been trained to sprint since birth and talented at the field to achieve.

Then the smallest noise that indicates someone arriving at the area was heard, and Shirou promptly turned his head towards the newcomer...

And found the blue-haired lanceman glaring at him with narrowed eyes and a wide grin.

"That was impressive kid..." he commended Shirou, "Agile, fast, powerful... for a normal human anyway..." he stated Shirou's capabilities, "But your life ends here kid. Sorry, you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Then the lanceman _charged._

A normal human would've been unable to see the lanceman's movement. A normal human would've been unable to defend themselves against his attack. A normal human would've been dead before he had a chance to figure out what's exactly going on.

But an abnormal, distorted human would be able to stay calm and said...

"Trace... On."

And the lanceman saw that his spear was blocked by the young man that he tried to kill.

Using the pair of weapons that he had traced, Shirou parried the spear that the lanceman used, and made him take a couple of steps backward.

He saw that the boy has summoned a pair of identical serrated falchions with glowing yellow strands surrounding the blade, they do not have hilts and instead, they were equipped with a pommel that has an opal-shaped jewel that glowed with a demonic shade of red.

"...Oh you've gotta be kidding me..." the lanceman said, 'Are you seeing this?'

_"...What the... what the hell is he? To be able to deflect Gae Bolg required skill and weapon that could be equaled to a Servant and his weapon... and he's a normal human." _replied a voice through the mental link that the lanceman shared with the speaker.

'I don't know... but that weapon was Projected by him, Gradation Air I think...'

_"...That's even more impossible, Gradation Air couldn't hope to match the real thing that it's based on. It's just objects made of Prana...!" _said the voice with terror apparent in the speaker's tone.

'I think he's using a more advanced and specialized type, he used some kind of aria before he projected the weapon into existence.' the lanceman said, 'And it's strong enough to parry Gae Bolg... he's not someone to be taken lightly here... what are your orders Master?'

The lanceman's master was silent before saying; _"...Damn it... kill him, he's too dangerous, even without adding the possibility of him being chosen as one of the Masters in this War..."_

The lanceman sighed before grinning, 'Understood.'

Then he charged once more, and to add to his surprise and confusion...

The young man swung his falchions rightward, yet he did not move from his spot.

But his confusion was shattered when he narrowly blocked the moving blade that would've inflicted a grave wound on his person.

The blades _moved_ closer to him while the wielder remained in his place. That alone was enough for the lanceman to know that the weapon is special.

But the redhead young man kept adding a hefty amount of force to his attack, and the lancer was pushed according to the attack's trajectory, and the only thing that kept him from fully thrown away by the force was his solid footing, he planted his foot down so powerfully that the concrete was partly destroyed by his attempt to not be overpowered by the young man's attack.

Then the sword retracted to the young man's hands and it allowed the lanceman to fully see the blades' other remarkable feature.

Which was the chain that trailed off from the bottom of their hilts and wrapped tightly around the boy's arms...

'...The chains enhanced the weapons' range... and the chains can also be used to control them... an identical pair of esoteric weapon, powerful enough to be called Noble Phantasm...' was the lanceman's thought.

_"...Why isn't he known within the Association?" _wondered the lanceman's master.

'I do not know...' replied the lanceman, 'But his weapon is a fearsome one... even when compared to those that existed in my lifetime...'

The two combatants went silent as they began to evaluate each other.

From the lanceman's point of view, the boy is an anomaly, a normal human capable of summoning a weapon that can be equaled to a Noble Phantasm. With the strength to match not to mention, and despite knowing it's a mere projection, the lanceman wondered how it could match his Gae Bolg, the spear that was given by his teacher, the fearsome Schathach of Alba, the warrior-woman who was very well-renowned for her prowess in combat.

It was enough to throw away his initial judgment of the boy.

From Shirou's perspective, the lanceman isn't something that could be called human.

While he already knew that fact when he saw the lanceman and the swordsman clad in red fought in a battle to the death, his fight with him only further cemented the notion.

He took a deep breath before saying; "Tell me... what should I call you as?"

The lanceman raised his eyebrows, his eyes twinkled and the edges of his mouth turned upwards in amusement and wonder, "...Call me Lancer, kiddo."

Shirou returned the lanceman's smile with a grin and said; "Then call me Emiya Shirou."

Then the young man swung one of his blades diagonally, and using the chains, the range of the attack is lengthened.

Lancer deflected the blade using his spear, afterwards, his instinct picked up another attack coming from his left, and deflected another sideways strike while one of the blades that he had deflected retracted back to the boy's hand.

When the blade retracted, the lancer moved his sight to where the boy was...

For a moment, he saw that there was nothing there...

Until he was forced to dodge a downward attack made by the boy who had jumped quite high and swung the identical blades at the same time towards Lancer who was below his level.

Lancer stopped himself from moving too far away and jumped towards the airborne Shirou, Gae Bolg ready to pierce the young man's heart out.

But it seems as if Emiya Shirou had some experience in mid-air combat...

**"CLANG!"**

As he managed to use one of his blade block Lancer's spear once more...

**"KRSSH!"**

...While at the same time, delivering a sideward slash using his other blade that ripped his bodysuit slightly and gave a visible gash on Lancer's body.

Lancer was caught by surprise, but Shirou Emiya managed to twirl his body mid-air to add the momentum of his next attack, a diagonal slash that used both of his blades that glowed brightly with the amount of magical power that they hold within them.

But before Lancer could even try to compose himself from the attack, Shirou delivered another diagonally-aligned slash that the blue-haired lanceman could only block...

**"BOOOM!"**

...And he ended up embedded into the roof's floor as a result of the explosion that the blades caused when they collided with his spear.

But the redhead didn't stop there.

As he was plummeting down towards the downed Lancer, he pointed the blades downward, idly hoping that the momentum of the fall would augment the force of the attack and as a result, imbedding the blades into the lanceman's gut.

But the red-eyed lanceman dodged the downward attack by rolling to the side, and Shirou ended up planting the blades in the roof's floor that nearly went through to the room right below.

Shirou immediately turned towards the Lancer who had already gotten up and ready to charge, and when the lanceman did so...

The redhead reciprocated with his own.

**"CLANG!"**

The clashing of steels caused the reverberation of sounds made by indomitable physical force that echoed throughout the school, and the cacophony of steels colliding with each other repeatedly acts as a music to the scene that they have created.

The air shuddered as the two monsters bred for battle clashed multiple times, and it's as if the very surroundings began to applaud in appreciation for the spectacle that they have created.

For it has been hundreds of years since a human is capable of such a feat, a feat of not only being able to stand their ground against a demigod...

But to push him back against the wall.

...

Lancer couldn't believe what was happening.

He, a Servant of the Holy Grail War, a hero from the olden times with the power and talent that surpassed even the most skilled warriors of his time, is being fought to a standstill by a mere human!

Granted, the redhead's normality is something that must be questioned, considering that he managed to do the aforementioned thing... but still, if his teacher saw this, she would reprimand him for underestimating him.

No warrior should underestimate their enemy, no matter how weak they may seem. One of the rules that he's supposed to adhere and follow to the letter, and he had failed.

He first saw the young man as a witness that needs to be eliminated, someone who was just unfortunate enough to saw the fight between that other Servant. But when he decided to fight back, Lancer began to see him as an enemy...

Only, he never saw him as someone who would force him to use his trump card...

'Master, permission to use my Noble Phantasm on this kid?'

_"...Do it Lancer, goddamn it do it... he doesn't even look tired or exhausted after all of this, he can't be human. If he's a Master then that's it for this War... use it Lancer!"_

Lancer grinned before he took a couple of steps back so that the blades wouldn't be able to reach him even if the redhead tries to do so, and said; "I applaud you kid, you're the first human in this era that forced me to do this..."

Shirou stopped and began to feel a sense of dread crawling up from his spine as the spear that Lancer holds began to shudder and warp because of the power that it holds within...

Normal human would've been petrified at the spot, a normal human would've been unable to move as the dreadful feeling gnawed at their brains, and a normal human would've been unable to even think clearly.

But Shirou is not normal... no kind of definition of that word could be applied to him.

And so, he charged, hoping that whatever it was that the lanceman had prepared for him, it would be halted by his attack.

**"Gae..."**

But the name of the spear that the lanceman shouted out managed to halt his movement for a split second...

**"...Bolg!"**

And it costs Shirou Emiya his downfall...

Lancer evaded the fallen redhead who was carried by the momentum of his charge to crash on the fence that surrounded the rooftop.

Shirou was able to twirl his body mid-fall to land on his back, but despite that, all the redhead could feel was only pain...

The twin blades shattered as he began to lose his consciousness... Shirou moved his right hand to his left chest and found that there was a hole that wound his heart, a wound that was made by the spear that the lanceman had been using.

"It was a good fight kid..." the lanceman said, "Shirou Emiya right? You're an impressive human, to be able to evenly fight a Servant like me... as a parting gift, I shall give you my name, I am-"

"Cu Chulainn..." Shirou answered, much to the surprise of Lancer who thought that the boy doesn't have any more strength and willpower to think, let alone to speak, "The Hound of Ulster, Ireland's greatest Hero... Someone who shouldn't exist at this era..."

"...Oh." was the only thing that Lancer could say before he smiled, "You already know about me eh? Well that sucks... it seems that my parting gift is not necessary..."

Shirou, despite the blood coming out from his mouth, grinned as he summoned the chainblades once more as the first act of his Last Dance... "Don't worry Lancer... I shall give mine instead...!"

The redhead's form then seemed to warp slightly on Lancer's perspective.

Then to his surprise, the young man stood up with his chainblades being gripped tightly to the point where his hand began to bleed, his upper set of teeth bit his lower lips to the point where it draws blood, and his bloodshot eyes opened wide to show the strands of blood vessels surrounding his scleras and his shrunken pupils...

And then he _roared. _A sound so inhuman and so terrifying that it made the Lancer's eyes wide in fear... and recognition.

'...Impossible! _Riastrad_? From a human of this age?!'

Then the boy lifted both of his chainblades high, and they glowed brightly, an indication that the young man is using his remaining powers for the final attack that he could give...

And then he swung them down...

**"BOOM!"**

And they created a massive wave of flaming, thundering golden energy that reached the Lancer in less than a second.

The technique managed to throw Lancer far off the rooftop, and the only thing that kept him from being thoroughly wounded was Gae Bolg that he had used to block most of the energy wave.

When he managed to land on his two feet, he waited. And after a couple minutes of silence, he said to his Master, "..Well... on the bright side, he should be dead from doing that last attack..."

Lancer felt massive relief from the mental link that he's sharing with his Master, _"Thank god...whatever he was... I'm just glad that he's already nipped in the bud..." _said his Master, _"But is it true? Was he capable of Riastrad?"_

"As much as it scares me, it's the truth..." said Lancer before he sighed, "Say... it's a real pity that he's dead you know? I mean, I know why you're so scared of him, he's fucking powerful... But to think that such a person had existed on this era..." he said with an admiration apparent in his tone of voice.

He heard his Master's sigh through the link, _"...Lancer..."_

Said lanceman shook his head with a mirthless smile, "It's okay... it's just... it's a real pity that he had to be killed before he fully matured, that's all..."

He turned his back from the school that has shown him a human that would've been worthy of his era and disappeared from sight.

...

* * *

...

_"Once more Shirou!"_

_Shirou once again charged at his mentor with one of the many swords that his mentor had given.  
_

_He managed to perform several hits, but all of them was blocked by his mentor.  
_

_And before long, he fell to the ground when his mentor swiped his feet off the ground.  
_

_"Oof!" the little redhead mouthed out as he hit the hard ground beneath him.  
_

_He then felt his mentor's hand helping him up and after he got on his two feet, he patted his shoulder.  
_

_"It was not perfect, but you already have a good grasp." said his mentor, "Remember, a weapon is merely a weapon if you do not know how to use it. And there are two things that you need to have a firm grasp on if you want to be a good fighter, can you tell me what they are, Shirou?"  
_

_Young Shirou took a breather before he answered; "Methods... and Instinct."  
_

_"Correct." said his mentor, "Methods mean that you must have extensive knowledge of the combat style that you are using, one-handed, two-handed, dual-wielding, unarmed, anything, even your own two hands and feet can be used as a weapon. But without the knowledge on how to utilize them correctly and the knowledge to identify your enemy's style and the best way to fight them, it will only begets defeat."  
_

_His mentor then turned his back and asked, "Now, what is Instinct, Shirou?"  
_

_"Instinct means... one's mind must be tempered to get used to battle, to not only know when and where the enemy's going to strike, but to prepare and give a counter when he does so. And it also means to be familiar with any weapon and their styles to the point where not even a polluted mentality would rob one's skills and knowledge about how to fight with the weapon."  
_

_His mentor smiled at that, "Very good." he said.  
_

_He then threw the sword that Shirou used towards him, and when the redhead caught its hilt, his mentor said; "Now, once again Shirou!"  
_

_Shirou nodded with a smile before he charged at his mentor once more...  
_

_..._

* * *

_...  
_

A pair of amber eyes opened and saw the stars that filled the night sky...

And thousands of definitions of pain was the thing that he realized when he woke up from his slumber.

Shirou Emiya groaned as he picked himself up, his mind was still in disarray and so he wondered what exactly happened.

And thanks to a certain mental conditioning training that he had went through, it only cost him a moment before he fully remembered.

"...I just fought a hero." was the first thing that he spoke of.

Cu Chulainn, Culann's Hound, a mythological hero from Ireland whose fierceness in battle was well-known throughout his home country and whose legend persists to this day.

And he had forced him to use his famed weapon Gae Bolg on him.

He couldn't help but smile out of satisfaction and a little bit of glee.

But then the smile was gone as he realized that what he just did was impossible. Hell, Cu Chulainn's existence in this era is supposed to be impossible by itself.

But yet he fought him...

And then the Hound of Ulster managed to kill him...

But yet here he is, still breathing and alive...

And there was only a hole in his school uniform instead of also having one on his left chest.

And so, Shirou could only speak one thing, one thing that he thought as befitting to this whole events that had transpired...

"The hell's going on here...?"

...

* * *

...

_Emiya Residence._

Opening the sliding doors leading to the interiors of his house, Shirou took a deep breath before immediately going to his room and removed the school uniform that he had worn, leaving him with only a long-sleeved white shirt and his school-standard brown slacks, leaving his feet bare by choice.

He had a slight feeling that the hound isn't finished with him just yet.

_"You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time." _was what the Lancer said.

'So not only that his fight wasn't supposed to be seen... but that a witness must be eliminated as well, disregarding the situation that brought them there in the first place.' Shirou deduced, 'It doesn't matter if someone's just unlucky enough to witness their fight... it's a rule of thumb to not leave loose ends.'

Shirou clenched his fist and narrowed his eyes, 'This is a game isn't it? A game of death involving heroes from times long gone summoned to this era by some kind of ritual... but who are the participants and what is the goal of this game...?'

The redhead can deduce some of the elements of the game by what Cu Chulainn had said during their fight. One of them was what Cu Chulainn called himself, a Servant.

The title implied that he has a Master who had summoned him to participate in the ruthless game that permits murdering innocent if they so happen to stumble into a similar scene that he had watched.

Such a rule meant that this is a secret competition organized by a very reclusive community.

...And what kind of community that is more reclusive and sociopathic enough to condone such needless killings than the community of Magus?

He growled audibly, knowing that his assumption is bound to be right and said; "Maybe I _will _participate in this game... if only to prevent unnecessary casualties and end this goddamn thing."

The redhead then walked towards the garden of his house, and without even bothered to wear anything to cover his feet, he walked to the grassy clearing and stopped right at the middle.

He closed his eyes and sniffed the air around him, an action that would've earned him some strange looks if he were seen.

But to him, it is the thing that made him alert to a presence nearby.

A presence that smelled like a hound covered in blood that is currently attacking at him from above...

And it was the same presence that he managed to block its attack with a massive curved sword that glowed blue.

"Heh! A new weapon eh kid?!" shouted the blue-haired lanceman before he pushed his spear forwards so that he would gain enough momentum to land on the ground, "How many weapons do you have in your arsenal exactly?"

Shirou smiled mischievously and said; "I don't know... hundreds? Thousands? I know the exact number, but revealing it now would be telling wouldn't it?"

Without uttering anymore sentences, Shirou charged towards the lanceman.

Lancer managed to parry the massive sword that should've required the strength of two people to even lift, let alone to swing it, "Heh! Impressive kid! You're stronger than you look! something like this would require an exceptional strength to even lift! A strength that a normal human shouldn't even have!"

"Then let me ask you this..." said Shirou, "When did I ever say that I'm a normal human?"

The blade's glow began to intensify, a flashy prelude to...

**"Cracka-boom!"**

A magically-induced explosion.

The explosion was enough to catch Lancer off-guard once more. And before the smoke fully dispersed, Lancer jumped out of the smokescreen and into the rooftop to observe the battleground.

_"Lancer! Are you hurt?"_

The lanceman gritted his teeth and answered, 'A little...! Damn it! I should've been prepared for that-'

_**...!**_

Before the Lancer could even finish his train of thought, he felt a massive killing intent from behind him.

Instinctively, he turned his head around while simultaneously moving his spear to intercept any kind of physical attack.

**"CLANG!"**

And the sound of violently colliding steels was heard throughout the residence as Shirou Emiya's hardened gaze bore upon the lanceman's red eyes.

Lancer gritted his teeth as the redheaded boy began to push him back.

Deciding that he will have none of it, the lanceman roared as he gathered his strength to push the human back.

But Shirou decided to jump over the lanceman and back into the garden, where he waits for the blue-haired lanceman to continue his attack.

Lancer turned towards Shirou who was below his level and jumped to attack him.

Shirou Reinforced his legs and jumped to anticipate the lanceman's attack.

And an orchestration of clashing steel resounded over the neighborhood as the two combatants are giving their best to defeat the other.

...

Damn it...

Damn it damn it damn it...!

He couldn't believe how fun this is!

_"Lancer...? Lancer...?!"_

The blue-haired lanceman grinned and opted to ignore his Master speaking to him as he becomes more and more invested in the battle with the young man named Emiya Shirou.

How long has it been since he felt like this? To be at the heat of battle with an opponent who would risk his own life and open himself without using anything that he might've kept hidden under his sleeves?

No tricks, no ace in the hole...

Just pure, raw, unadulterated physical bout between warriors.

This era has proven to be somewhat disappointing, what with most of the warriors of this time having a massive inclination towards mass-produced ranged weapons that only required little skill compared to the weapons used by warriors of time long past.

But here... here is someone who's not only capable of living in the age of legends... but to be able to triumph among them and be recognized as one of their own!

Truly, such a precious gem hidden in a disappointment of an era.

He almost hates himself to have to kill such a character...

But it was the thing that his Master had ordered him to...

**"Gae..."**

...

The mystical barbed spear with the property of reversing causality.

'The spear has been thrust, and so the heart was pierced.' the simple fact could be changed into... 'The heart was pierced, and so the spear must have been thrust.'

Though Shirou doesn't know that exact property of the spear, he knew that its activation is something that he should avoid or prevent at all cost...

And so, he augmented his whole body with Reinforcement, charged at the lancer with an unbelievable speed, and de-summoned his massive curved sword to add more speed...

In a split second, Shirou traced a massive gauntlet that covered his right fist in an onyx steel shaped like a roaring lion's head, and the trajectory of the gauntlet's swing would hit Lancer right on his head.

**"...BOLG!"**

The moment the gauntlet hit Lancer's head, the reversal of causality was disrupted, the lose of focus was something that made the Hound of Ulster failed to enact the spear's power towards the intended target... but because it was already released...

It managed to hit Shirou nonetheless.

But instead of his heart, it hits his left shoulder.

And due to the amount of force that Lancer had put behind the thrust of the spear, he was thrown backwards, the same way that Lancer is thrown backward with the power of his gauntlet.

He crashed into the door that lead to his shed and his back hit the wall with so much force that it cracked slightly due to his Reinforced body strengthening his durability.

The redhead gritted his teeth as the gauntlet dispersed into particles of light, it was the second time that he was hit with that legendary weapon of the past. Luckily, it only managed to hit him in a non-vital spot of his body.

When he was hit with it before, he was forced to induce his innate battle frenzy that was nurtured and restrained by his former mentor to try and give the lanceman one last retaliation before he died of his wound.

Such battle frenzy wasn't something that he would like to use unless it was for a last resort. As not even his closest allies and friends could be saved from his rage if he were to activate the boiling blood within him that craved for battle.

Now, his wound is slightly less lethal, though exhausting, he still could enact more strikes against Ireland's most renowned hero.

He stood despite his pain, and from the blood that is pouring out of his shoulder, he inadvertently activated a summoning circle beneath him that was drawn there by someone long ago.

The redhead didn't notice this of course, as the lanceman showed up at the front of his shed with a shit-eating grin that he managed to procure despite his messed-up state.

"Heh... Hahahaha! That was fun! That was really fun, kid! Who knew that you're able to change the trajectory of Gae Bolg?" but then, his demeanor turned serious and apprehensive when he noticed the summoning circle beneath his feet.

But once again, Shirou only noticed Lancer's hesitation, and so he recited the first verse of an aria...

An exceptional aria that would only make sense to him and his former mentor who made him this way...

_**...I am the sum of all weapons...**_

Then he traced the lion-shaped gauntlet back to his hand and charged at the lanceman, never noticing the glowing summoning circle behind him.

He then landed a powerful punch using the gauntlet right into the lanceman's gut, and the gauntlet began to glow...

Before it _roared_, and the resulting attack created a visible shockwave that made the lanceman flew towards a part of the concrete wall that surrounded the residence...

**"Boom!/Craaack!"**

And into the next one behind him.

Shirou took a deep breath before he sank to his knees, he let his gauntlet disperse as his wound began to take its toll and his magic circuits are exhausted somehow...

'Why am I tired...? I only used the first verse, why did it take a lot out of me...?'

Then, he felt a helping hand preventing him from fully passing out of the sheer exhaustion...

"Young man, are you alright?"

He turned his head towards the source of the beautiful voice that is filled with worry over his well being...

And what he saw nearly took his breath away.

For a woman with blonde hair styled into a royal-looking bun with a pair of stunning green eyes is looking at him with a soft gaze that showed her worry over his well being.

She wore a blue-colored battle dress beneath her old-looking armor, the indication that she is similar to the lanceman in terms of being someone who came from an era that has long passed.

"...Who... are you?" asked Shirou.

Without even showing any slight change to her expression, she answered; "I am Servant Saber of this Holy Grail War... and I ask of you... are you my Master?"

...

...

* * *

...

In life, there's always that one event where your life was turned upside down because of it.

Shirou Emiya knew that when he saw the fight between the two warriors and meeting the lanceman, his life would be turning to a place filled with uncertainty. And from there he must decide which path that he should take...

But he only had the slightest idea of the burden that will be placed unto him...

After all, to be called to save the world is a burden that only suits a hero to undertake.

But a hero is what he will try to be...

...And a hero is what he will end up as.

Because he is Shirou Emiya.

...

* * *

**End of Prologue.**

* * *

And... finished.

Thank you for reading this dear readers, if you like it then stay tune for the next chapter, which would be published in... seven to nine days from now.

So see you until then.


	2. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: **Type-Moon owns the Fate/ series.

* * *

**Chapter 1:The Peculiar Case of Shirou Emiya.  
**

* * *

...

_Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and the archdukes of contracts to the cornerstone. The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg.  
_

_The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate.  
_

_Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut.  
_

_Repeat every five times.  
_

_Simply, shatter once filled.  
_

_-I announce.  
_

_You shall be under my command. My fate is in your sword.  
_

_In accordance with the resort of the Holy Grail, if you abide to this will, this reason, then answer me.  
_

_Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead.  
_

_You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance!  
_

...

And then, there was explosion.

**"BOOOM!"**

...

* * *

...

Tohsaka Rin, the number one school idol in Homurahara Academy, coughed profusely as the smoke enveloped the room that she had used to perform her ritual.

It was night time. To be more precise, it was the time when her power is as its peak. And so, it was the time to perform the most important ritual that she will ever perform in her entire life.

The ritual to summon a Servant, A hero from the time long past or the yet unreachable future. A necessity for a magus who was considered as worthy enough to participate in the battle royale between a number of exceptional magus and the hero that they summon.

A necessary ritual to be done by her, for her command seal showed up some time ago, indicating that she had been chosen as one of the participants of the prestigious competition created by three well-known magus families to try to reach Akasha, The Root of All Things.

The Holy Grail War.

Seven heroes separated into seven classes shall be summoned from the Throne of Heroes, the place where they resides after death because of the legend that made them known in the world by seven chosen magus as their Masters...

Then after all of them is summoned, so shall the War begins... and the victorious pair shall receive the prize of wish fulfillment, anything that they desire shall be granted by the Holy Grail, the near omnipotent artifact coveted by the contestants that is able to do nearly anything with the amount of energy contained within it.

Which is the reason why a magus chosen by the Grail to participate in the War would and _should_ feel honored and expectant.

But, despite being one of them, Tohsaka Rin felt a little bit apprehensive and disappointed when she saw that there was no hero, no person that has been summoned from the Throne of Heroes to be her partner on this War, no one was there except for her.

"...Did I fail?" she uttered with a nigh-imperceptible twitch on her right eye.

She couldn't believe this, she had done everything right, she had prepared the summoning circle correctly, her power is at its peak during this precise moment, there should be a Hero standing right in front of her instead of an empty space!

...But then again, she didn't use a catalyst...

For a magus to summon a specific hero from a specific legend, he or she must use a catalyst to summon that certain hero, perhaps a shred of cloth from the piece of garment that the hero used to wear when he was alive, a piece of the legendary weapon that he once holds, in essence, things that could be identified as something that once belonged to the hero, or things that could be linked to the hero's legend.

But to obtain these catalysts, a magus needs to have a vast amount of wealth and resources, for they are items so rare that their existence might not be known to the public, relics thought to be lost for being thoroughly consumed by the ravages of time.

And thanks to her family's... financial conditions... she wasn't able to get a proper catalyst to summon a certain hero.

So she had left it to luck. She had hoped that the hero that she summoned would be a well-renowned hero, and hopefully, if she's awfully fortunate enough, the hero would be of Saber class as well.

Which is why if one of her schoolmate saw her current expression, it would ruin her reputation as an elegant young lady who would never let any situation get the best of her.

But, in her defense, her current expression is fully justifiable.

For she had never expected this to happen.

She was about to let bygones be bygones and go to sleep before she heard something from the room near the room where she currently is.

The raven-haired girl went towards the door leading to the room and opened it hastily.

And she saw a man wearing an intricate-looking onyx armor beneath a unique red coat that only has a pair of long sleeves that covered his arms and the lower part of the coat, the 'tail', as it were.

The man's skin was tanned and his short and spiky hair was white, he had a pair of gray eyes that gave him a rather piercing gaze that could be likened to that of a stare an eagle is able to give.

The man sat rather arrogantly as he placed one of his legs over the other and leaned back on the sofa that lies amidst the debris that she had undoubtedly caused, and when he saw Rin, he smirked knowingly, as if he had predicted her arrival, "Hm... it appears that I have been summoned. I am Servant Archer. Tell me, are you my Master?" the man asked of Rin.

'...Archer...? Damn it!' Rin cursed her luck inwardly, because despite being one of the three knight classes other than Lancer and Saber, Archer class wasn't the one that she wanted to summon. Especially because of the tactical disadvantage in combat situation, considering that he and Rin both excels at long-range combat situation.

Because she already had a plan. If she had summoned Saber, then the dynamic would be quite balanced, as she would be able to participate in combat by taking a support role from afar while Saber would be the one to initiate close-up combat.

But nevertheless, he had been summoned here because of her, and so she answered; "...I guess I am."

"Hm, I had expected great things from my Master," said Archer with a scoff, "But it seems that someone who summoned me is a magus who barely succeeded in the summoning ritual."

"..."

Though Rin didn't say anything, not even a retort to what the Servant of the Bow just said, her twitching eye and the subtle sound of teeth gnashing was an indication that his statement hits a bit too close to home than he might've thought.

And also, the place where he materialized and the scene of destruction that accompanied his summoning are the physical clues that there indeed was a hiccup in the summoning ritual.

"But still..." he said with a rather dramatic sigh that seemed rather sarcastic, considering how he did it, "The fact that you've summoned me despite all odds speaks a lot about your talent... I guess I shouldn't be too hasty in judging you after all..."

He then gave a rather confident smile and said; "I shall give you what you desire Master, the Holy Grail. After all, it's the least I could do to a Master who summoned me without even meaning to do so..."

Rin's eyes narrowed at the Archer, glaring at him with a stare that could wilt someone of her age due to its intensity.

But to Archer, it only amused him further, he smirked and said "Come now Master, you know as well as I do that such gaze will not work on me."

She kept her silence for a moment before she turned her back away and walked to the door.

"Master?" asked Archer.

"...I am going to go to sleep." she said, "This has been one disappointing, and not to mention, confusing night... and you." she pointed at Archer, "You will clean all of this mess. Come morning, I expect the house to be spotless and clean with a capital C, understood?"

Archer sweatdropped at her orders, "Oi oi, Master, are you seriously asking a Servant to clean the household?" he said with a 'you gotta be kidding me' tone of voice.

"...Do you want me to use this to make you obey?" she asked with a dangerous tone as she pointed out the currently glowing Command Seal on the back of her right hand.

...That immediately shut Archer up.

"Good. Now do a good job, I'll be sleeping." she said before she exited the room and closed the door rather roughly.

After she got out, Archer drew out an exasperated sigh as he placed his palm on his face to cover his eyes, "My my... such a troublesome Master I have..."

The tan-skinned man looked towards the scene of destruction around him and felt a lingering feeling...

A feeling that dictates him to immediately clean the mess. Not because of an order given by his Master...

But because of a principle that he holds dear.

The Servant of the Bow sighed before saying; "Well... this is going to be a long night..."

...

* * *

...

_The next morning..._

"So you really can't remember who you are?" asked Rin.

When she woke up after the summoning of Archer, she was pleased that the Servant did what he was told, the place was clean, everything has been re-arranged to their proper place, all and all, he did a marvelous job.

Had been pleased enough with his work, Rin then decided that she should know more about her Servant, who he really is, at what era did he come from, what his abilities are... Practically, the things that she needs to know for being his Master.

But then he dropped the bomb.

He doesn't remember his past life.

Not a single shred of memory. And that means Rin couldn't possibly know of his legend, that is, if he has a very recognizable one.

After all, his choice in clothing provided many possibilities as to which era that he hailed from, as what he's wearing doesn't exactly fit to any era of the past that she know of.

Archer shrugged, not even showing an ounce of concern of his memory loss and said; "It doesn't really matter either way Master, my abilities are still intact, this is just a simple obstacle to overcome." smirking confidently, he then stated: "And besides, it shouldn't be much of a problem to you, isn't it Master?"

It took a moment for her to create a proper response, "...O-of course. It's a simple trifle, nothing to get me concerned." she said, rather charmed by Archer's implied compliment.

Though she also noticed that his compliment wasn't something really genuine, she cares not for that fact.

"So, what shall we do next, Master?" Archer asked the magus with an expectant smile.

She flashed a confident smile that seems to mirror Archer's own and said...

"Make me lunch."

"..."

Archer got nothing on his repertoire that he could use as a response to that.

"It's almost noon, and I'm hungry, can you cook?" she asked the tan-skinned Servant with a rather adorable smile that seems rather innocent to someone who had never seen her true self.

But Archer wasn't that kind of person.

"Oh don't worry." Rin said as she waved her hand to placate his worries, "We'll make plans later, right now though? I'm famished. I really hope you know how to cook, I expect something good out of you Archer, if not? Well..." she left what she's going to say hanging, making it so that there would be some things that she can do to punish him if he does something wrong with the food.

Archer closed his eyes to calm himself, the left one twitched several times in the span of two seconds before he said, "...I'll see what I can do Master..."

Rin merely grinned mischievously while Archer couldn't help but think...

'She's still hung up about not summoning the right Servant isn't she?'

He had an idea that he wasn't the right Servant that she had wanted to summon and that she had expected some other hero, but come on, can't she just put a bit more faith in him?

He _is _her Servant after all...

...

* * *

...

_Several hours later..._

A pair of gray eyes looked towards the lit-up area of Fuyuki City from a the highest viewpoint available within the area of Miyama, the half part of the city that contained the residences of the city.

"How is it Archer?" asked Rin as she too watched over the landscape of the city with her Servant, "Is this building tall enough for you to evaluate the battleground?"

"Hm... I would prefer somewhere even taller, but this is good enough." answered the Servant of the Bow, "I have enough information of the battleground, and now I know where are the best places for me to utilize my abilities to their fullest."

He then pointed towards the bridge that connects the area of Miyama and Shinto, which is the metropolitan district of the city, complete with modern skyscrapers and the like to give the impression of a bustling modern city.

"That bridge would be an ideal location for me to fight, it provides no cover for the enemy and an eagle's nest providing three-hundred and sixty degrees of view would be ideal for an Archer like me." said the white-haired servant, "If we can lure an enemy Servant there, it would be best."

He then turned his gaze towards the tallest building in Shinto district near the bridge, and said this as he pointed towards the skyscraper; "As for the ideal place for me to observe the city in its entirety... that building should do it for me."

Rin looked at the skyscraper that he pointed and raised her eyebrows in slight confusion, "Isn't that building too far away? And how would you be able to see something so distant from that position?"

He closed his eyes and smiled, "No. It is not a hard thing to do with my ability. I can see quite far with my eyes Rin, I'll be able to see everything in the vicinity of the city by standing at that building, do not worry too much."

She then nodded in understanding. Even though she hadn't seen any ability that he has, the words from a Heroic Spirit shouldn't be doubted too much. After all, their great deeds and abilities, whatever they may be, allowed them to enter the Throne of Heroes.

If he said that he could do it, then he could, that's all there is to it.

...But, there _is_ one ability of his that she already knows first hand.

Because if _Cooking_ can be counted as one of the prominent abilities that a Hero has, then his rank at that particular skill must be at least 'A'

It was the only reason that she didn't use her Command Seal to humiliate him or anything of the sort. As much as she hates to admit it, her cooking seems rather sub-par when compared to his.

And let it be known that she _is _a good cook. Living by herself and knowing a certain priest who liked food that are spicy beyond belief required her to be a good cook if she wants to eat something that wouldn't burn her stomach.

"Now, Rin..." Archer said as he turned towards Rin, "Shall we patrol the city and look for enemy Servants tonight? I doubt that this is all that you want to do for the first day of the War."

She smirked confidently and said; "You bet Archer. C'mon, let's see if we can find ourselves an enemy Master." she said as she walked towards the door to begin her first day as a Master in the Holy Grail War.

Archer smiled and sighed before he disappeared from sight as he astralized himself.

...

* * *

...

_The next day..._

Rin is... somewhat bored.

Though she's able to maintain her focus to the teacher who seemed to drone on and on about something that happened somewhere that was caused by someone, she did so with no small amount of willpower to keep her mind at the subject that the teacher's talking about.

Her patrol last night didn't result in something useful, no Servants nor Masters showed up to fight Archer or her, which wasn't something that is unwelcome, but... at the same time, she couldn't help but feel underwhelmed.

But still, it was only the first day, this time, she will encounter a Servant, that much she is sure.

She just wished that the teacher in front of her would be a lot more interesting in how he teaches his student.

Considering his lack of expression and his monotone voice, it's apparent that being _interesting _is not really his forte.

...

After the sound of the bell rang throughout the school, Rin packed her bags and left the class almost immediately, intending to prepare herself for the next night patrol.

As she navigates through the hallways of the school, she, -as part of her school idol persona-, politely greeted back to everyone who said hi and began to try and have a conversation with her.

She turned them down of course, she had some work to do and she can't afford even the slightest of delays.

But that was the reason why she managed to bump into someone on her way out of the school.

"Oof!" said the person that she bumped.

"Oh I apologize for not seeing you there, I was in a-" she stopped when she saw who it was that she bumped upon, "Oh, Ryuudou-kun."

"Geh! T-Tohsaka!" said the named Ryuudou as he took a step back out of fear when he saw her.

Ryuudou Issei, the President of the Student Body, he had always been someone who's rather infamous in the school for his well-known adversity towards her. Though most of the students in the school don't have any idea why he's afraid of her instead of having a crush on her like most guys, she knew exactly why.

He's some kind of a psychic. That has to be it.

If he's not a psychic, then at the very least, he's someone who can see through people's facade and fragments of their real self that they contained within them. This instinct of his is what led him to fear her, due to the fact that he can see glimpses of who she actually is despite of the fact that she's not blatantly showing him her true personality.

It was also the thing that made her wary of him, even to the point of quitting the membership of the Student Body when she realized his ability.

But, she maintained her school idol persona even when around him, because there's no reason to abandon the facade of normalcy when most of the students and teachers within the school don't exactly follow Issei's disposition towards her.

"Good afternoon to you Ryuudou-kun." she said politely before turning to the one standing beside...

...Oh, it's him.

She was still and silent for a moment before she regained her bearings, "...And to you too... Emiya-kun."

Shirou Emiya, the Fake Janitor of Homurahara Academy.

Unlike her other colleagues within the academy, she could almost proudly say that she knows something about the redhead that others do not.

The redhead is a magus, a relatively unknown magus whose ability still remains unknown to her.

A fact that she's bothered with, due to the fact that she is a Tohsaka, the family of magus that is supposed to overlook the city as its Second Owner. And this young man had slipped under her radar to the point that she doesn't know of his existence until when she saw him several years ago at the ceremony that welcomed her and him along with several others to Homurahara middle school.

Her first impression was that Shirou Emiya is a rather timid young man who would do what anyone told him to with a smile, especially if the task is to help someone. She was right in that regard, after all, that's how he got the name Fake Janitor.

But, something about him doesn't feel... right.

Perhaps she's channeling her 'Ryuudou-sense' as she once called it as, but she had a feeling that he is not what he seems like.

Unlike Ryuudou who saw glimpses of her... less than idol-like personality, something that she saw within him was... much more... grander.

Like staring at a prince who disguised himself for a pauper.

...And speaking of princes, yes, she knows about the second nickname that was given to him by some of the girls who fancies him.

After all, standing at 175 centimeters, he is quite tall for a boy of his age, and his kind demeanor helped adding more popularity to that nickname of his.

Though his posture does play down his height for a bit, not to mention that he doesn't really have the intimidating aura usually possessed by a tall person.

But his eyes...

She can certainly see where those girls would get that idea for a nickname.

"Afternoon, Tohsaka." the redhead said with a smile that matched her own, though lacking in insincerity like hers, "You're in a hurry." he remarked.

She nodded, "Yes, I am. So if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way." she said to defuse further conversation and went on her way.

He bothered her, but not in the same way that Ryuudou bothered her, it's... different.

It feels both pleasant and unpleasant at the same time.

She shook her head, 'No, now's not the time to think about that, after all this is over... ...maybe...' she thought to herself as she began to quicken her walking pace.

...

* * *

...

_Same day, Night-time..._

A pair of aqua-colored eyes scanned the surroundings of the school from the rooftop, and found nothing but the empty environment of Homurahara Academy staring back right at her eyes.

But through her other senses, she can feel an enemy's presence nearby.

A trace of another Servant, approaching closer and closer to the proximity of the school.

"Do you feel that Archer?" she asked her Servant.

Archer merely nodded in response, and so Rin continued to speak; "Get yourself ready Archer, this will be your first fight in the War."

He smirked and said; "I've been ready for quite some time Rin, instead of worrying about me, you should worry about yourself."

"I can take care of myself." she replied hotly as she glared at Archer.

"Against a Servant?" asked Archer rhetorically, prompting Rin to seal her lips. He then sighed and said, "When the enemy Servant comes, find some place safe to watch, if you don't want to watch, it's also fine. Either way works."

She turned her head away from Archer before answering; "Fine..."

She didn't see him smirk rather knowingly at her response.

...!

The pair looked towards the school's courtyard in unison when they felt that pulse of magic.

"Archer." she said.

"Hm." he nodded.

And both of them immediately goes as fast as they could towards the source of the pulse.

...

When they arrived at the courtyard, they saw that there was a blue-haired man with an equally blue skin-tight bodysuit along with a set of steel pauldrons that protected his shoulders. He wield a crimson spear on his right hand, the indication of what his class is, and most likely, his Noble Phantasm.

"Yo!" he greeted them with a grin, "I am Servant Lancer. Now, if we can just get into the fighting, that would be great."

"Where's your Master, Lancer?" Rin asked the spearman as other than him, there was no one in sight.

He grinned and wagged his finger, as if reprimanding her, "Now now little lass, it would be rather rude of me to tell you where she's located." he said, prompting Rin to get somewhat annoyed, "But, what I can tell you is that she's nearby. And that we noticed you and him yesterday when you guys were scouring the city in search of a Servant."

Rin's eyes widened, she turned her head slightly towards Archer and whispered; "Did you-?"

"No, I didn't notice them." answered the Servant clad in red, "It seems that they're capable of reconnaissance to a degree, and I'm willing to bet that his Master used some spells that helped concealing their presence as well."

"Yeah." confirmed the Lancer, "And as a precaution, we also kept our distance, and after we found out that you're in this place and about to begin your second patrol, I thought that we might as well introduce ourselves. Though she opts to stay at a safe zone in the end, she agreed to my recommendation."

Then the blue-haired spearman performed a combat stance and said; "Now... let us fight." he said to Archer.

Archer narrowed his eyes before he said to Rin, "Master, get to a safe distance."

She nodded and with an impressive speed, she dashed to a place safe enough for her to observe the fight. When she stopped and turned, she also had to keep herself aware of Lancer's Master, who is supposed to be nearby.

But, as the Lancer charged towards Archer, she couldn't help but be mesmerized.

Instead of a bow or some other ranged weapon that would suit his class, Archer summoned a pair of chinese swords, black and white, as if mirroring Taijitu, the symbol of harmony, of Yin and Yang. And with it, he met Lancer's attack head on.

"Huh...! A swordsman... You must be Saber!" stated Lancer.

Archer smirked smugly at his statement and said; "I guess I am."

Then, as the two combatants fought, Rin watches their every move.

Every time their weapons clashed, every time their movements become so erratic, fast, powerful, and yet harmonious due to the skills that they have accumulated during their lifetime, every time, the surroundings seemed to shudder as the two warriors' clash.

It was such a sight to see, despite the fact that her Servant isn't supposed to be able to fight just like a Saber would, he still managed to go toe-to-toe with Lancer, who's supposed to be the most agile of all classes.

The sight was so mesmerizing that it made her mind too distracted from noticing some things that she should have...

And in this case, it was the arrival of an unintended witness.

"Ck! A witness...!" said Lancer as he turned his red eyes towards the intruding visitor.

Rin also turned to the direction where the Lancer is looking, and she found...

...Oh damn it...! Of all the people in this school that could've stumbled into the fight between her Servant and the other, why does it have to be him?!

...

* * *

...

"Ck! A witness...!"

When Archer heard that the Lancer saw a witness, he involuntarily turned towards the place where the witness' presence is located.

There was this strange feeling that he had experienced this before... perhaps some of his memories have returned and the events that happened helped them to recover somehow?

He did not know, not yet at least.

But when he saw the one who witnessed their battle, the strange feeling returned with a vengeance.

It's as if he should know about the watcher, the redhead boy with his amber eyes, who bore his gaze unto the lanceman...

The gaze that Archer felt misplaced, it's as if he knows that the boy _shouldn't _have those kind of eyes... It was the eyes of a hardened warrior of war.

He saw the redhead stared at Lancer for a split second before he ran away, not out of fear it seems, as apparent by his gait and his calm but stern expression as he did so...

He heard the blue-haired Lancer clicked his tongue before he began to pursue the boy.

Archer watched as Lancer went out of sight in his pursuit.

He then heard the sounds of footsteps coming from behind, the indication that his Master, one Rin Tohsaka is currently looking towards the direction where the Lancer had taken off in trepidation.

"Damn it...! I thought that everybody have left the school already..." she uttered out.

Archer sighed at his Master's oversight, "It doesn't matter, Lancer will take care of him anyway." he said nonchalantly.

Somehow... he doesn't like that red-headed boy. Who was he and why did he hate him so much?

Such questions can only be answered if he has his full memory...

Rin turned to her Servant, and she gave him a glare that showed how she doesn't like what her Servant said. And so, the armored Servant said; "With all due respect Rin, he just witnessed a battle in what supposed to be a secret War, if he's not eliminated, the existence of magus as a whole wil-"

"No, you don't understand! He-" she stumbled on her explanation for a moment before she regained her bearings and said; "He's a magus, like me."

Archer raised his eyebrows and asked her; "How do you know?"

"...I saw him using his magic circuits on accident." answered Rin, "It was when I was staying late at school and happened to come upon a scene where he's fixing electronic appliances out of whim on Student Council's room ... I know it sounds weird that he's willing to do such a thing, without pay even. But... at that time, the sight of him using Structural Grasp made me realize how he's an adept at fixing things... he used a low-ranked spell to figure out the problem that afflicted the machine and fix it with the knowledge."

...Archer felt apprehensive for the first time since his summoning. Why is it that the thing that the redhead did annoyed and bothered him so much?

But he ignored the feeling for now and said; "Then what do you want to do now, Rin?"

She was silent as she contemplates, and after a couple of seconds filled with silence, she said; "We'll save him. He doesn't need to die because of this."

Archer once again sighed, not out of disappointment, but because he had expected such a thing from her, "As you wi-"

**"CLANG!"**

Then, it happened.

**"KRRRRSH!"**

The Master and her Servant heard the cacophony of clashing steel that echoed throughout the school, and it came from the rooftop of the main school building.

'...How did he get there so fast?' she wondered about Shirou Emiya's ability to sprint at such speed, as considering the distance from the courtyard to the rooftop of the main building doesn't allow even the fastest of runners to overcome it in just a few seconds.

But the sounds... they're not unlike the sounds that Archer and Lancer made when they were having a bout.

"What the hell is going on there...?" Rin muttered out. She then turned to Archer, glared at him for a split second in a non-verbal way of giving orders before she ran with all her might towards the main school building.

Archer sighed once more before he too began to follow his Master.

...

"Curse these goddamn stairs!" cursed Rin as she began to feel tired of navigating the stairs of the school building to get to the rooftop.

The sounds of clashing steel stopped not a few moments ago, and it forced Rin to quicken her pace as it seems that her fear has come to pass.

'No. No, he's not dead, not yet.' she assured herself as she pushed her physical strength to its limit

As she was about to climb the last set of stairs leading to the rooftop...

_**[!...!_!...!]**_

She heard a roar, so inhuman in its nature that it made her hair stand on end and halted her progress slightly.

But before she could even compose herself, there was another thing coming...

**"BOOOOOM!"**

Mainly, an explosion that shook the building slightly, she could hear the sounds of concrete being destroyed around her, and she nearly fell off the stairs when it happened so suddenly.

"What the..." she uttered out before she took a glance downstairs...

There were smokes everywhere... and there seems to be quite a large amount of debris that covered the hallway on the level below.

Rin was thoroughly stunned by the event that transpired, the Lancer's Noble Phantasm is quite fearsome, to be able to cause such destruction. And that roar...

She dare not to think deeply about it.

But she decided to ignore the scene of destruction for now and proceed to go to the rooftop.

When she opened the door, her eyes widened at what she saw...

For what she saw was the figure of Shirou Emiya with his legs bent to give the impression that he's kneeling, and his spine hunched to the point where his head is on the same level as his chest, his arms looked as if they're just hanging on his shoulders. His back was facing her, and he was deathly still...

She also noticed that the floor made out of concrete in front of him was destroyed, it formed a pair of straight lines leading to one of the edges of the rooftop.

Ignoring the destroyed concrete, Rin ran towards the boy, and when she saw his chest...

She gasped as she placed her hand on her lips to cover her mouth.

There was a massive hole in the place where his heart should be, a hole that continue to leak out blood that began to soak his school uniform.

He is dead.

She shook her head to throw away her shocked state, she then heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and when she turned, she saw Archer approaching her.

"...We're too late." said Rin as she turned towards the still kneeling corpse of Shirou Emiya.

She then proceed to make him lie on his back before she examined the wound.

After a few minutes, she heard her Servant sigh, this time out of disappointment, "There's nothing that we could do Rin, let it go." said Archer without even a slight amount of emotion.

And what he said annoyed her.

"Shut up Archer." she said sternly before she took out the pendant that she had brought with her since yesterday. The pendant was a ruby hanging off on a silver chain, the red jewel contained a lot of prana, and it was a specially prepared jewel she had prepared, it was supposed to be used in a tight situation during the War.

But it seems that she had to use it for him.

'...He wasn't even a participant... he's innocent...' she thought to herself before she knelt and placed the boy's head on top of her bent legs.

She then raised her pendant slightly using her right hand while her left hand is placed over the boy's wound.

After closing her eyes, she then activated her magic circuits to channel the large amount of prana contained within the jewel into her...

And then use it to heal the boy.

Though she knew that her father would've reprimanded her for wasting such a precious resource on something like this, at that moment, she just doesn't care.

She wants to save him.

And she will do everything she can and give anything that she has to do so.

...

* * *

...

"It wasn't a good decision Rin." said Archer as they walked back to her residence after healing the boy and fixing the damages on the rooftop and the level right below it, "To use such a resource on the boy would mean that you now have one less advantage that you can use against your enemy."

She gritted her teeth before she turned to Archer, "I know, and I don't care Archer!" she shouted, "Look, we'll just get some more jewels from my house, then afterwards, we'll go to Emiya-kun's house, he should've woken up right about now and I'm sure that he would go to his house after he recuperated a bit."

"When we're there, we need to explain some things to him. He needs to know why he was targeted by Lancer, he's a magus so I think he'd understand." she explained her plan to Archer, who doesn't look like he's placated by her explanation.

"...Rin... do you harbor some feelings for the boy?" he asked her.

She nearly fell to the ground when Archer said that, she regained her posture not long afterwards and turned to Archer and shouted; "N-no I do not! Don't kid yourself Archer!" ...Her blushing face didn't help the denial of course.

She then quickly turned away from Archer and began to quicken her pace.

Archer merely shook his head and sighed at his Master's feelings that might've cost her the War. 'You're too soft Rin...' he lamented inwardly.

...

After reaching the residence of the Tohsaka family and taking what she needed, she and Archer then walked towards the direction of Shirou's house.

Archer was still astralized like before, but this time, he opted to stay silent and observe. Which was all fine with Rin, since she kind of want the rather peaceful silence for the moment.

Now that she has calmed down a bit, she began to retrace the chronological events that had happened during this night.

First, Lancer arrived at the school declaring a fight, and Rin and Archer agreed.

Then, Shirou Emiya stumbled on the scene and ran, prompting Lancer to chase him first as Rin and Archer stayed and discussed a bit on what they should do.

Afterwards, they decided to intervene, but they were too late and found his lifeless body on the rooftop which was partly destroyed by... something. Rin promptly healed him in the nick of time, preventing him from passing on, but she did so with a cost.

Then finally, she went back to her house to get some things before she and Archer walked towards Shirou's house to discuss about the Holy Grail War with him...

Now, the events that had transpired wasn't all that confusing, however... there are some things that bothered her so much.

First was the sound of steels clashing that resounded over the school, it indicates a fight, and so the Lancer must've met some resistance from Shirou. 'Even though he died in the end... it seemed that he did go out fighting.' Rin thought.

Usually normal people would've run away in fear after seeing the fight between Servants, even a normal magus would've been afraid at facing one of them head-on as enemies.

This means that Shirou is not unlike a warrior, he would rather die fighting than die running from his enemy. A bit confusing, considering his usual demeanor at school, but not something too outlandish to assume.

But the second part is a bit more difficult to comprehend...

Judging by the scars of battle that the rooftop has suffered, Shirou's fight against Lancer was great enough to cause that scale of destruction, this made her think that Shirou Emiya is a talented magus, perhaps even more talented than her if he's able to stand his ground against a Servant.

But what is his ability that was able to cause such a destruction...?

Rin's first thought was that he had some sort of a Mystic Code, a magical artifact that is usually used by magus as a weapon, an extension of their Thaumaturgy.

But known Mystic Codes usually belonged to famous families, like the Archibald, Tohsaka, Fraga, and so forth. Emiya Shirou is a magus whom she didn't even know existed until a couple of years ago, and considering this information, the possibility of him having a _very _powerful Mystic Code that allowed him to fight a Servant evenly is quite little...

Not impossible, only close enough to zero percent that it might as well be considered as such.

Still, he must have a lot of question when he wakes up, she will answer it all... As long as he answers hers.

And so, when she was only a couple of feet away from his house, she was taken by surprise...

**"BOOOM!/CRACK!"**

When she heard the sound of an explosion followed by the sound of destroyed concrete.

"Wha.. what the...?" she uttered out in shock as the noise managed to make her locked in place.

Then after awhile, Archer said this; "Rin, it seems that the boy is being attacked by Lancer again."

"What?! Damn it!"

She then pushed her legs to sprint for the rest of the way to Shirou's house.

...

...

* * *

...

...

_At roughly the same time... Emiya Residence._

"I am Servant Saber of this Holy Grail War... and I ask of you... are you my Master?"

Despite his exhausted state, Shirou understood that this girl in front of him is a contestant of the game that allowed for the summoning of heroes to fight each other. A Servant...

And he had inadvertently summoned her...

But how?

He looked back to the shed where he was thrown into and saw that there was a remnant of a Summoning Circle in there, and he realized that the blood that is leaking out from the hole on his shoulder must have activated it and summoned her in the process.

He knew that such a ritual _could _be performed without any kind of incantation but...

The notion that he would experience it firsthand never came to his mind...

"...I guess so." he answered tiredly. And inwardly, he now understands why he felt so exhausted, his prana had been fully drained from the summoning and the first verse of his personal aria, after all, he had unconsciously activated nearly ninety-five percent of his Magic Circuits' total amount.

But he's a bit placated by the fact that now he has a name to give to this competition.

Holy Grail War...

...

Why does that term seemed familiar to him? And why does it make his head burn with rage?

Something doesn't feel right...

Then he felt something else, he turned to his left shoulder and he saw that his wound is beginning to close itself, at a faster rate than it should be. 'Hm... now that's interesting...' he thought.

'What could've accelerated the restoration process?' he wondered.

Shirou's train of thought was cut off when he heard the sound of shifting rubble, and when he turned to the source of the sound, he saw that the blue-haired spearman is currently trying to get himself to stand up. The spearman was quite wounded and bruised, and not to mention that he's also bleeding from his mouth.

When the lanceman saw the blonde woman besides him, he clicked his tongue in annoyance, "...Damn it! You managed to summon your servant?!"

Saber, perceiving him as an enemy, was about to perform an attack on the lanceman, but then Shirou said, "Saber, stop!" he shouted to prevent her from doing so.

She turned towards her Master in confusion, "Master?" she asked him.

Shirou didn't answer Saber's unspoken question, he instead turned to Lancer and he shouted; "Lancer! Tell your Master that I have summoned my Servant! And if you want to come challenge us again, do so when you're at full power." he then grinned and ended with; "We'll be _glad_ to oblige you."

The lanceman's eyes widened for a moment before the edges of his lips turned upward and formed a grin, "Hehehe... hahahaha...! Aahahahahahahaaa...! I really like you kid! Very well, this shall be a momentary farewell between us, kid! I won't forget what you said!" he shouted back excitedly towards the redhead.

He then turned his back away from them and jumped away from the proximity and then vanished without a trace.

Saber turned towards Shirou with a stern yet thoroughly befuddled expression, "Master, why did you do that?" she asked him like a parent asking a child about an act of mischief that they had done to them, "...And who gave him such injuries?" she added.

Despite his wound, he grinned, showing his partly bloodied teeth, and said; "_I_ did."

Her eyes widened a fraction, and her response was instant, "It's impossible Master, you're a human being, you can't possibly-"

Her rebuttal was cut off when she felt a presence within the proximity of the residence, "Master, stay here, there are intruders entering the ground."

He felt them too.

A bounded field has been placed here by his father, a bounded field designed to make the owner aware of who is entering the place. Shirou would've been a bit worried if it was a hostile presence, after all, most of his prana supply has been drained.

Though he did end up worrying.

And it was because of what Saber said next; "I shall take care of them."

Then with a burst of speed, she ran towards the entrance.

"...Oh goddamn it."

Shirou knew that what the Servant Saber meant by taking care of them means that she's going to kill them, whoever they may be.

It's not something that he could abide by, now is it? After all, the intruder might not have any malicious intent towards him, and unless he knows that it was the opposite...

He will not allow what the Servant of the Sword is going to do.

Despite his weakened state, he Reinforced his body and used a shortcut to the entrance by jumping to and traversing the roof of his house.

When he reached the edge of the roof near the entrance, he saw that there were two intruders, one of them is the man clad in red who fought Lancer before, and the other was...

...Hell, she won't kill _her_ on his watch.

The man clad in red was wounded by Saber, who seemed to be wielding an invisible sword, one made out of air, he idly suspected that it was used to conceal its true form. It's as if she's hiding her true sword that would give some kind of clue to her enemies if it's real form were seen.

When the man clad in red is defeated and vanished, she turned to the other intruder, who was taken aback by fear and made her fall on her posterior.

When Saber dashed towards her, he wrung out every last bit of prana that he had left by imagining himself being struck by a particularly fierce lightning and said...

"Trace...ON!"

The sound halted Saber's advance, and it provided Shirou the time to jump, grab the grip of the weapon that he just traced...

**"SCHWING!/GRSSK!"**

And embed the massive sword right between the intruder and Saber so that the Servant could not harm her.

The sword wasn't the curved sword that he had used to fight the Lancer, it was a double-edged sword which is slightly taller than Shirou himself, and its width nearly reached thirty centimeters. Its blade, hilt and pommel were covered in golden-tinted steel, but yet its grip and its edges was covered in onyx steel.

The blade part of the sword had seven golden circles imbedded on it, each of their diameters was three centimeters, and they were set in a rather esoteric pattern, with three being set on a vertical line, one on the top near the upper edge, the middle and the bottom, near the pommel. And four pairs placed in two separate horizontal lines, placing them near the side edges. The first two was aligned right below the topmost single circle but right above the middle circle, and the last two was placed slightly above the lowest golden circle.

The most remarkable feature of the sword is its pommel, because of the sculpture of two pair of wings and horns jutting out on its upper and lower side of the pommel respectively. It wouldn't be too farfetched to say that he sword's creator must've been an artistic blacksmith, one that could create a sword that exude such majestic aura and making it look like a sword fit for a king...

...or a god.

A second afterwards, Shirou landed right in front of the sword, he grimaced as he looked at what he just traced, "Damn it, I should've been more precise in projecting a weapon, this is too powerful to be used just for this...!" he uttered out in frustration.

"Master?" Saber asked her Master in confusion. She saw as he turned to her and lift his hand up and raised his palm towards her, a gesture which served as a warning for her to not continue her attack.

"Saber, stop. She's of no threat to me or to you."

"But Master, she's an enemy Master." said Saber, trying to explain her actions, "She is a participant in this Holy Grail War, like you. And her intrusion is basically a declaration of attack."

Shirou was silent before he continued with; "It doesn't matter, there's still no valid reason for you to kill her." when she was about to explain further, he stopped her with; "Saber." he began, "I know that you're worried about me, I understand that. But we will not be the one who attacks first. If an enemy in this competition is hostile and attacks us first, _then _we'll fight them, understood?"

"But Master-!"

"Saber." he called her name calmly to stop her from speaking further, "I will not let you attack someone recklessly like this, even if it was a potential enemy, understood?"

Her expression was one of discontent, but after awhile, she relented as she tilt her head down and lower her invisible sword, "...Very well Master."

Shirou sighed in relief before he made the massive blade disappear, he then turned towards the intruder and said; "Tohsaka, are you alright?"

"...I'm fine... _Emiya-kun_." the twin-tailed girl wearing her long-sleeved red sweater and a -scandalously short- black skirt completed with a pair of equally black stockings greeted him with a rather... annoyed expression. But the word annoyed seems rather tame, so it could be said that her expression is one of irritation and slight anger.

And he also noticed that the way she said 'Emiya-kun' was laced with a bit of venom within it.

Something that interests and scares him somewhat.

She lifted herself up and patted off the dusts that was rather glued on her skirt when she fell,"You don't seem surprised by my occupation as a magus Emiya-kun." she stated, "I wonder, did you already know that I was one?"

If that was the case, if his intuition is indeed that impressive, then he is much more fearsome than she had previously thought.

"...I just know about it now actually." he answered.

And it took her off-guard, "W-what? Then how come you're not shocked?"

"I had always known that your idol persona is just a mask." Shirou answered, shocking her even more, "Your demeanor always felt... off, at least to me. I didn't know the reason why you're masquerading before, but when you said that you're a magus, it all just... clicked." he said, "That's why I'm not that shocked."

...Okay, she has changed her initial evaluation about him, his intuition is quite-, no, _very_ scary.

"Well, regardless..." she changed the topic of conversation to try and hide her shock, "That was an impressive show there Emiya-kun. Gradation Air, correct? The sword was very... regal, but you do know that such thing wouldn't be able to be used against her right? She is a Saber after all, the best class of all the other Servants."

He sighed and said; "You're correct, that was only half-done." he confirmed her assumption.

"...Half-done?" the raven-haired girl asked.

"Yeah, I'm a little bit low on prana, so..." he said as he gestured his hand towards where the spot where the massive blade was imbedded before, "That was the most perfect that I could achieve in this condition... but even so, I think that blade could withstand a few attacks from her."

She shook her head, "Emiya-kun, you do know that Gradation Air is a spell to make an object made out of prana right? That blade can't possibly hope to match a normally-made weapon, let alone a magically-created one."

He then gave her a look of confusion and said; "Who said that I was using Gradation Air?"

"...What?" she asked in befuddlement, what is he talking about? "That was... you projected that blade, right?" a nod. "It was made by your prana, right?" another nod. "And it was a copy of an original that you once saw, right?"

"Right." Shirou answered with the final nod, "But it wasn't Gradation Air."

"Then what was it?" asked Rin who had gotten very curious as to what exactly that he did. Not to mention a little jealous, as she's supposed to be a genius magus but yet she doesn't know about the particular spell that he just did.

"...Tracing." he answered.

...

"...I've never heard of that spell." Rin answered after a few moments of silence.

Shirou smiled mischievously and answered with; "Good. It _should_ be unheard of."

"...Wait, what is that supposed to mean? Is..." she trailed off as her eyes widened due to one assumption that came on her head, "...Is that your family's specialty? A specialized Gradation Air?"

The redhead's answer was; "...It's like that, but... a bit different." he said as he ruffled his hair sheepishly.

"...Then wha-"

"I'll explain it to you later." he said as he raised both of his hand to prevent her from speaking further, "For now though... seeing that you're also a Master, I would like some explanation about this whole Holy Grail War thing." he then turned towards the garden...

...Or more specifically, towards the destruction that he and the Lancer had caused due to their fight.

"But... this needs to be fixed first." he grimaced.

...

* * *

...

"By the way, that was quite amazing, Tohsaka." Shirou said with admiration apparent in his voice as he, Rin and Saber are currently entering his house, with Saber observing Rin quite zealously, intending to prevent her from attacking Shirou if she ever saw an opening.

Rin had taken the liberty of fixing the aftermath of the redhead's fight with Lancer, but she had thought that all of that was made by Saber and Lancer instead of Shirou, and it only took her a couple of minutes to get them fully repaired, and afterwards, Shirou invited her to his house, which she agreed.

...Well, it took sometime to convince Saber though...

"Normally it would've taken me a couple of hours to fix all of that."

She turned to him, and he saw that her expression was one of disbelief, "What?"

Seeing that face, Shirou couldn't help but be confused, "...What?"

"You... you have a specialized Gradation Air, and to fix just all that would've taken a couple of hours for you?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah." He answered it instantly, "I'm more of a specialized kind of magus, the only magecraft that I know of is Reinforcement, Structural Grasp and Tracing. I make up my limited knowledge on other spells with mastering those which I'm actually good at."

Shirou then opened the door leading to the guest room and entered.

Meanwhile, Rin could barely believe what she's hearing, "Shirou, besides Tracing which I don't know about, the other two spells are very basic, why didn't your teacher teach you more?"

He turned his head slightly to Rin and said; "Other spells just doesn't suit me." he answered with a smile.

He then gestured Rin to sit on one of the chair while Saber in the other which they obliged. But the former asked this after she sat down, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well... let's just say that the path of jack-of-all-trades isn't available for me. Instead of a Scholar, I'm more of a Battlemage, I think." he said as he sat on the chair directly opposite to Rin.

He saw that she's a tad confused, and he assumed that it was because of the terms that he just used, so he said; "It means that I'm a magus more suited for battle due to my skills and certain spells that I've mastered."

"No no, I get that. You're saying that you're a lot more suited to be an Enforcer." answered Rin, "But what I'm confused about is the fact that you're already specialized in your age, most specialized magus that I know of are... old."

"Well, my Shisou(Mentor) already knew about my Origin and Element... so going from there, he already knew about the teachings that I should receive." he answered, "And in case you want to know that or anything else about my skills, why don't you analyze me?" he said as he held out his hand to her.

She looked at Shirou with a deadpan stare; "...Are you... serious?" she asked.

"I am. Why?" asked the redhead.

"Magus are supposed to be secretive, a magus should not offer a magus with no close relations to him a chance to know their skills so easily, what you're doing is just... just...!"

"Crazy?" he helpfully provide an answer.

"Well, yes!" she said, bewildered by his nonchalance, "I mean...! (sigh)... You're a strange person Emiya-kun..."

"I've been told that by my Shisou once." he said, "He said that I reminded him of himself." he then grinned and said; "I guess we're both equally strange, huh?"

She shook her head and sighed, "Very well... here, let me analyze you." she said as she held his hand in hers. She closed her eyes and began to analyze his body.

...

...

...?

...What the...?

...

...What the...?!

Rin opened her eyes abruptly after a a couple of seconds and the twin-tailed girl stared at Shirou with an expression akin to fear.

"...E-Emiya-kun, wha..."

Shirou became confused at her expression and said; "What is it Tohsaka? Is there something wrong with my Origin and Element?"

"N-no, there's... I-I didn't... I don't know what they were yet, I... I..." she then let go of his hand rather quickly, "Emiya-kun... wha... what _are _you?" she asked breathlessly as her eyes seemed to say that what she's seeing in front of her, that is, Shirou Emiya, is some sort of a demon.

"...Tohsaka?"

Her body began to shake as she said, "Whe... when I used Structural Grasp, I managed to take a look at your body's inner workings before I check your soul." she began, "And I found that... there was something there... a system that isn't supposed to exist in your body..."

'...Oh, that.' Shirou grimaced as Rin asked...

"Emiya-kun... Why... do you have a large number of Magic Circuits... on your physical body?!" she all but shouted the question.

...

Magic Circuits... the link between the physical world and the astral plane, the system that circulates a person's lifeforce and enable them to convert it into prana for multiple purposes.

It was a common knowledge that Magic Circuits are located within one's soul, and that it was a system invisible to naked eye and can only be detected through magecraft.

And that was the reason why Rin was mad, and it even made Saber turned to Shirou with a shocked expression, they didn't expect that he would contain such a thing within himself.

He raised both of his hand to placate the currently fuming Tohsaka, "Now calm down Tohsaka, I can explain."

"How?! How did this happen?!" she demanded as she stood up, "Magic Circuits are supposed to be located in the soul! How did it materialize inside of you?! At that amount no less!" then her expression turned to horror as she said; "...Did... did you perform an experiment on yourself? To force the circuits to materialize inside of you? Is that it?!" she asked with utmost fury apparent in her tone of voice and expression.

"T-Tohsaka, please sit down and let me expla-"

But she didn't let him finish as she then slammed the table and glared at him with her narrowed eyes that seems to promise eternal torment, "Emiya Shirou! **WHAT IN THE NAME OF AKASHA DID YOU DO TO YOURSELF?!"**

"Tohsaka, I can-"

"WHAT?! WHAT IS IT EXACTLY THAT YOU DID?!" she demanded.

"It was my mentor's doing, alright?!" he shouted back. "Now calm down a little and-"

"Your mentor?!" she shouted, "He performed such a dangerous experiment on his student?! What kind of a teacher is he?!"

"Tohsaka, relax! He did this with my permission! There's no need for you to-"

"Oh! That makes everything better then!" she shouted the sarcastic remark.

Shirou sighed exasperatedly before saying; "Tohsaka, calm down. You're blowing this way out of proportion."

"No, as a matter of fact, I am not." Tohsaka answered succinctly before she brought her face closer to his with an expression akin to fury, "Emiya-kun, what your teacher did was reckless, and not to mention dangerous. To materialize the soul requires a practitioner of the Third Magic, and even the family who had them lost them a long time ago."

"But he succeeded." Shirou retorted with an intimidating glare equal to hers, "The Third Magic, Heaven's Feel? It's not outside of his reach, that's why I allowed him to do this. Even my father gave his consent, because he knew about his abilities."

"...What?" she said with a more subdued tone of voice, her body began to lose strength at that information "He... your teacher... he... he's capable of Third Magic?"

"A variation of it at least." Shirou confirmed, "He said that such a system isn't perfect, but it was rather similar to his own, with the difference in the system's location." he answered, "He told me that it would be easier for me to use the spells that I know if my Magic Circuits were materialized, not to mention that it would be a lot more powerful and easier to do, and so I asked him to materialize it."

He then looked rather sheepish before saying; "Although it took quite some effort to withstand the pain... But as you can see, it all worked out in the end."

That made Rin fell down on her knees, the information drained all of her physical energy, "...But... that's impossible... the practitioners of Third Magic from the Einzbern family are all but lost... what _is_ he?"

"Master." Saber interrupted the flow of the conversation, "What is his name?" she asked, rather curious about his mentor as evident by her expression.

He smiled sheepishly and said; "You won't believe me, even if I told you."

"...Well this changes things..." said Rin as she tilted her head down and then her expression changed to an expression of a person filled with despair, "...Haha... hahahahaha... wha... what is this...? What kind of monster has physical Magic Circuits? And that many no less...?" she asked to no one in particular.

"...Um, Tohsaka, I'm right here..."

"This idiot... he doesn't even realize the power that he holds... what makes _him_ so special? Why did his mentor choose _him _out of all magus? Why give such a power to a third-rate magus? ...And did he even know what would happen to him if the Association caught up with this? Did he even care?"

"...Ano, Tohsaka...?"

"...Aaaah... it's all worthless... All the teachings on the books that I've read, all those preparations... it's all worthless... this War's his now... there's no way that you can win against a Saber and her monster of a Master..."

"...And all those research that the Einzbern did that end up with nothing after they lost the Third Magic...? They didn't even know that there was a practitioner of their lost arts... outside of their family no less... if they heard about this their family head would go berserk..."

"Haaaaah... I don't know what to think anymore..."

As she goes on and on about her lamentations, Shirou turned to Saber, "...Right, um... Saber, stay here and guard her, okay?" he said as he stood up.

"Where are you going Master?" she asked.

"I'm going to make some dinner." he answered, "That'll get her out of this. And besides, I'm kind of hungry. Do you want some too, Saber?" he asked her.

"Master, as a Servant, I do not require such sustenance, I will be fine without." she rejected his offer.

"...You know what? I'll take that as a yes." Shirou said rather sternly as he began to exit the room.

Saber was surprised by the sudden anger in his tone, but yet she tried to stop him, "Wait a moment, Mas-"

"Saber, you are going to eat dinner." he said as he turned to her, "Do not think yourself as a Servant, think yourself as a person, a person _needs _to eat, okay?"

"Master, I am a Servant _before_ I am a person, I do not need-"

"Saber." Shirou cut her off, this time he was a bit more serious, "Please, do not think of yourself that way." he said to her with a hint of pleading apparent in his tone.

Seeing his concerned face looking at her, Saber couldn't help but relent, "...Very well, Master."

He nodded before he went to the kitchen, leaving the Servant of the Sword rather flustered. 'Why does he care so much? I am his Servant, nothing more than his weapon for him to wield, I-'

_"Do not think of yourself that way." _his words rang inside her head, like an echo of a shout that was made by a mountain range.

He cared about her, more than a Master should. It irks her, offends her, and yet... she's also slightly happy about it, his concern for her gives such a delightful feeling in her heart.

She placed her hand on her left breast to try and quell the slightly quickened rhythm of her heartbeat. She frowned as the unexpected feeling enveloped her very being. Such a reaction does not suit a Servant like her... but yet she couldn't stop it even if she wanted to.

And though she added to herself that her Master needs to be taught a lesson about how he should treat her, she couldn't stop the pleasant feeling of elation within her.

And so the despaired genius of a magus and the flustered Servant sat obediently in the guest room, thanks to a certain specialized magus with a red hair.

...

* * *

...

Moments later, the delicate smell permeated throughout Shirou's house as his cooking is about to be finished.

The aroma was enough to bring out the despair that had been plaguing one Rin Tohsaka just recently, thanks to the information that a certain magus had given her.

And not a second later, Shirou was there, bringing some plates that contained beefsteaks which were cooked medium, and some baked potatoes covered in slightly melted butter to go along with the dish.

"Tonight is a western-style dinner night." Shirou explained with a smile as he placed the dishes right in front of Rin and Saber, "Hope you like them."

He then sat on the table opposite of Rin and nearby Saber.

He looked at Rin and grinned when he saw her looking at the food rather hungrily, 'Well what do you know? That brought her out of the funk even before she tastes the thing.' he thought to himself.

"Well... Itadakimasu."

And then they began to eat.

When Saber and Rin took their first bite, their thought process immediately halted as their eyes widened.

"...This is really good, Master." Saber praised his skill with such a beautifully bright smile.

Rin's reaction was one of silent awe as she slowly chews the tender meat and savoring its taste, her blue eyes clearly shows how pleased she is with his food.

And Shirou smiled in both satisfaction and gratefulness. While the reason for the former is obvious, the latter is because he finally had someone else besides his kouhai who tastes his cooking by savoring its taste first before gulping them down.

...Unlike a certain Tiger...

But what Shirou didn't expect was that Saber ordered seconds... and thirds... and fourths...

It got to the point that some of his supply for the next couple of days is thoroughly used to satisfy the Servant's somewhat gluttonous appetite.

And there's one more thing that he didn't expect. It was the fact that someone _can _eat something so fast but look so regal and proper while doing it. Looking at the way Saber ate made him rather curious as to how it was possible.

Well, perhaps the fact that she's not really a normal human being helps...

After their stomachs are completely filled, Shirou turned to Rin and said, "So Tohsaka... are you lucid now?"

She blushed out of embarrassment as she remembered how she acted after he dropped such a news.

The girl was rather disappointed in herself, 'I should've kept my cool... I'm an idiot...!' she chastised herself while she answered Shirou's question with; "...Yes, I am."

"Good. Now, I want to speak about this Holy Grail War thing, but first..." he then took something out of a pocket on his pants and showed it to Rin. "I believe this is yours."

He held a pendant, a very familiar pendant to Rin, and she was both surprised and shocked by what she's seeing.

Shirou smirked when he saw her expression, he then said; "I found this on the school's rooftop when I woke up there... When I touched the jewel I felt that it contained prana once, and I deduced that this was used to heal me." he explained, "I didn't know who it was at the time though. But when I figured out some of the rules of the war such as the summoning of heroes and Servant and Master pair and such on my way back home, I thought that this must've belonged to the other Master, the one who summoned that man in red."

His smirk then turned into a grateful smile, one that made the raven-haired girl blush, "And my thought back then was that I must give this guy my gratitude if we ever meet again. So now that you're here, thank you Tohsaka, I owe you my life."

She then took the pendant once more, grasp it in her hand and turned her head away from Shirou so that he wouldn't see her flushed cheeks, "Hmph, it was nothing. It's my job as the Second Owner to prevent needless casualties, after all."

As usual, she couldn't say that there was another reason besides that, a reason that involves her disposition towards him.

"Regardless, thank you." said Shirou, rather oblivious of her obvious cover-up.

She huffed before she turned her head to face Shirou once more, her blush fading but didn't disappear just yet, "Anyway, you want some explanations about the Holy Grail War correct?"

"Yes." Shirou answered.

She nodded and then she began to explain the basic rules of the War, about Servants, Masters, the rules of engagement, Servant's trump card called Noble Phantasm, crystallization of their legends, their weapon as a Servant, and she also explained how their Noble Phantasm would be connected to their class, a sword for a Saber, a bow for an Archer, a spear for a Lancer, and so forth. And finally, about the Command Seals, the ace in the sleeve for a Master in the War.

Shirou looked at the back of his right hand, and he saw an intricate looking tattoo that seemed to glow faintly, "Three orders for a Servant... orders so powerful that could even break the rules of the world huh? Such as instantaneous teleportation and things like that?"

"Correct." said Saber, "For example, if you ever find yourself in danger, Master, give me an order to come to your aid, the Command Seal will instantly send me straight to your location to help."

"Hm... useful to know." Shirou remarked before he turned to Saber once more, "And Saber?"

"Yes Master?"

"Call me Shirou." he ordered her, it was not a request.

"...I'm sorry?"

"Call me Shirou. No more of this 'Master' stuff." he said. "I am Shirou Emiya before I am your Master."

Being an observer of Shirou giving an order to Saber, Rin could barely believe that the young man in front of him is the one nick-named as the 'Fake Janitor.', he stared at Saber with an equally powerful gaze that seemed to make even the proud-looking Servant of the Sword relented.

"...Very well Ma-Shirou..." she corrected herself.

Saber, on her part, felt that her Master can be rather persuasive, as evident by what he just did. It's as if he's channeling his prana to make himself more intimidating somehow but... that wasn't the case.

It was an inborn trait of his.

Rin cleared her throat to make them turn to her once more and to compose herself, "Anyway, Emiya-kun... now I'll explain the reason why the Masters and the Servants seeks the Holy Grail, and that is because-"

"Wish fulfillment." Shirou interjected, "The Holy Grail can grant a wish to the victorious pair that was left out of them all." the redhead answered.

"...Yes, exactly. How do you know?" asked the confused Tohsaka.

"I just guessed." Shirou answered with a shrug. "I have thought about some things that could be held as the grand prize in this War... but there's nothing more seductive and alluring than wish fulfillment... and considering magus society as a whole, it just makes sense."

"...You are one scary man, Emiya-kun..." Rin remarked. "But... yes, you are right, the grail has the ability to fulfill the winner's desire."

"Hm... has anyone fulfilled their wish yet in the previous Wars?"

"No." Rin answered, "For whatever reasons, the previous Wars have no winners, and there was no chronicler at the time of the first and second War that could give an idea to whatever happened that made it that way. There's nothing that could tell us what exactly happened during those two Wars."

"...Alright... so what's yours?" he asked her next.

"...My wish?" she asked rhetorically, "...Well, I want to reach Akasha, the metaphysical place where all the information in the universe is stored, from the past, the present... and every possibilities that lies for the future... such is the reason why this War is created after all."

Shirou smiled before nodding, "That's a good wish. As expected of you I guess."

"Oh? And what do you mean by that Emiya-kun?"

"You seek knowledge, that's why I called it a good wish. And considering how well your performance in school is, I would guess that you're also a great magus of your age as well. I guess it is to be expected that you would use the Holy Grail to fulfill your thirst for more knowledge." he answered her question.

She cleared her throat as she blushed once more, she finds herself rather flustered thanks to his keen insight on her character and his compliments, "Yes, well... anyway..." said Rin as she then continued with; "Now's the time for _me_ to ask you some questions."

Shirou nodded, already expecting this would happen eventually, "Alright, shoot."

"Okay, first of all... how exactly did your mentor create those Circuits?"

He shrugged and said; "Don't know. I wasn't exactly lucid at the time. He said that it would be painful, so he sedated me... the next thing I know was that I had a set of Magic Circuits in my body. The pain that I felt when I first tried to trace with the physical Circuits _was_ rather agonizing. But as time goes by, it gets easier for me to do. But if I pushed myself too far, there would be some pain, it usually originate in my head first before spreading down towards my whole body."

"...Okay, do you at least know about its procedure?" she asked again.

"Only a gist of it, it involves a lot of prana to be performed... something that is abundant within him. It also involves the materialization of the soul, the inclusion of Third Magic... And it also involves a delicate control over prana... But I don't know _exactly _how it was performed."

"Was there any tools involved?" she asked.

"No, just him and his prana." Shirou answered.

Though the answers gave a certain degree of clarity as to how his mentor actually managed to do such a thing, Rin could not prevent the headache that began to plague her head. "Alright, next question, does it help you do anything better than most magus can?"

Shirou mulled over that question for a moment before he said; "Absolutely. Considering that it's overlapping with my physical body, I can enact any thaumaturgy at a stronger rate compared to when the Circuits were in my soul and increase the overall limit of thaumaturgy usage." he explained. "For example, Reinforcement. Because of the Circuits' direct connection with my brain, it would only take a reaction out of me to instantly enact low-powered Reinforcement or any other thaumaturgy. And if I do it consciously and with a mental image, well, Reinforcement with nearly three-fold amount of power than average would be rather easy to do."

"W-wouldn't your body break under that amount of pressure?" she asked, befuddled by what Shirou just said.

"Normally, it would. But considering that the circuits are overlapping with my nervous system, and by proxy, my physical body, I would only feel slight amount of pain as it was not counted as an imperfect augmentation by the soul trying to interfere with the workings of the physical world. Enhanced Reinforcement, I called it as."

Rin's eye nearly twitched at that information, 'Unfair! Cheater!' she yelled in her mind, but she managed to keep it under control and not blurt it out, "...Then what about that technique of yours? Tracing? Is it helped by the physical Circuits?"

"It also helped, in regards of augmenting the durability of an object or the time needed for it to be fully traced of course. But I still need to do it consciously if I want to summon something specific, something powerful."

"...So Tracing is just like Gradation Air? You see something, you know its blueprint, and you can create it using your prana."

At this, Shirou merely smiled rather mysteriously. "Something like that."

...She _knew_ that he's still going to keep that card close to his chest. She then sighed before saying; "Alright, final question. Why you?"

"...Why me?" Shirou asked again in a rhetorical fashion, "Well... he said that out of everyone here... I am the only one he could trust for this... Even now, the real meaning of what he said is still unknown to me..."

"Here? As in what? In this house?" she asked.

"...Hm... now that you said it, I'm not sure..." he said, "Sorry about that. Despite the amount of time that I spent with him, there are some things about him that are still a mystery, even to me. ...However..."

"...What?" Rin asked.

"He told me that it would help in improving my combat capability." he answered. "But that was obvious, considering the conditions that is entailed with the presence of my physical Circuits. As to that other reason, well... I'm afraid I don't exactly know what he meant."

Rin sighed before she then said, "Alright, well... if you don't know, then there's no point in asking." Then she stood up and continued with; "Now that you know what there is to know about this War and it's getting rather late anyway... I think it's time for us to go."

"Where?" asked Shirou.

Rin grimaced and answered; "...To the Church."

...

* * *

...

_Shinto District._

"So, mind telling me the exact reason why we're going to the Church this time of night, Tohsaka?" asked Shirou.

The redhead has changed his clothes to cope with the somewhat cold weather in Fuyuki City, he has worn a buttoned dark blue jacket which has a 'tail' long enough to reach his knees over his long-sleeved white shirt.

Rin was somewhat unnerved by the fact that Shirou's choice of clothing mirrors that of her Servant, the difference being the inverted colors, blue for red and white for black. And, if she squint her eyes and imagined him with his hair being slicked back she could almost see him as Ar-

'...No, that's just not possible, you're over-thinking it Rin...' she chastised herself before she answered his question, "The Church had been supervising the procedure of the Holy Grail War since its second one, and it is the rule for a Master to bring him or herself to the Church so that everyone is accounted for. Even though that rule wasn't always followed by all the participants... considering that I'm the Second Owner of the city, it's my job to get you registered."

"Hm..." Shirou hummed as he digests the information that was given. Then he turned his head slightly to look at the one behind him, "By the way, you sure you don't want to walk beside us Saber?"

"No, Shirou." said Saber from behind him, she's currently wearing a blue jeans coupled with a white button-up shirt and a pair of black shoes to go with it. The clothes once belonged to Shirou a couple of years back, but when his growth spurt hits, it was no longer wearable. Thankfully, it was able to be worn by Saber, thanks to her... small stature. "This position is preferable, as I will be guarding your back."

She had said to them that she could not turn into astral form, and so she must be outfitted with a civilian attire. Luckily, Shirou had something that doesn't look out of place despite being worn by the opposite gender.

The redhead then sighed at Saber's seriousness, "I am not completely helpless, you know?" he asked as they walked down the street.

"Nevertheless Shirou, as I have said before, against an enemy Servant, a Heroic Spirit, a normal human stands no chance. No matter how much power one has." she stated the fact.

Shirou then smirked rather smugly before saying something that he said to Lancer recently, "And who says that I'm normal?"

...Though the line sounded rather cheesy, Rin couldn't help but agree with him, after all, he _isn't _normal, considering his _physical_ Magic Circuits, approximately one hundred and eight of them, in fact. More than five times the amount that an average magus has. High-quality circuits they are too... _Impossibly _high, almost as if they were the Circuits that came from the Aozaki bloodline...

'...God it's just not fair... he has Saber as a Servant, a damn _physical _Magic Circuits, _and _a massive amount of prana to spend to not just his Servant but to perform his family's thaumaturgy as well. What was it called...? Tracing, yeah that's it.'

"Considering what you are Emiya-kun... I believe I have to agree that the word normal doesn't define you, at all."

The redhead smirked at Saber and pointed to Rin and said; "See?"

...

After nearly an hour later, they arrived at the Church's complex.

Now, Shirou is not really a devout follower of christianity, and as a matter of fact, he's not a devout follower of anything, really. Except for following the path that he has made for himself, of course.

But he had a thought that being in a church is supposed to bring some peace to one's mind and soul, but this one church feels wrong somehow...

And Saber felt it too as she frowned and said; "Shirou, this place... it doesn't feel right." she said with an apprehensive tone of voice as she looked around her surroundings warily.

"I agree." Shirou said, his eyes narrowed, and he kept his guard up as he walked towards the church's door. "This place gnaws at your very soul, it's really making me uncomfortable."

"Oh you're exaggerating Emiya-kun." said Rin with a wave of her hand, "I've been here multiple times, I admit, it feels rather off somehow... but I'm sure it's nothing."

Though Shirou didn't seem to buy it, he nevertheless took the raven-haired girl's nonchalance as a sign of reassurance, that perhaps this dreadful feeling is nothing to be afraid of after all.

Unbeknownst to him however, Rin took his apprehension as something not uncalled for, she had a gut feeling that the priest that dwells within the church is not really a benevolent man and so she thought of his occupation as a priest -even though he's a magus himself- as something strange.

'But I never felt this dreadful feeling that he spoke of...' she thought before she shook her head, 'Nah... it's probably nothing...'

She then turned to Shirou, "Come on Emiya-kun." she said as they reached the church's door.

"Shirou." Saber began, "I shall remain here to keep watch, an enemy might take their chance to attack us. ...And be on your guard, this place reeks of danger."

Her Master nodded before he and Rin entered the church...

"Kirei! Where are you?" shouted the girl as she entered.

"Ah, Rin." said a deep voice that belonged to a man sitting on the seats in the front row. "What brings you here?" he asked as he stood up.

The man's cassock beneath the dark purple longcoat and the cross necklace that he wore was an indication that he is the priest of this church, he smiled rather wickedly as he said; "And who is this young man that you've brought with you?"

Rin's answer was instant, "He's a Master in the Holy Grail War, I brought him here so that he is registered."

"Hm." said the priest as he looked at the young man...

...Who is currently giving him a rather harsh glare, as if a child who is seeing something that he doesn't like. But the priest ignored that and said; "I am Kotomine Kirei, the head priest of this church and the supervisor of the current Holy Grail War, what is your name young man?"

"...Shirou." he answered succinctly.

"Do you have a family name, Shirou?" asked Kirei who found himself rather irked and challenged by how he's looking at him and thus, reciprocated kindly to the gesture.

"...Emiya."

The priest's eyes widened for a second before their size returned to normal, "Shirou Emiya... very well. Do you know what you have gotten yourself into? The reason why you have to fight?"

"I do." answered Shirou, again, he answered it rather quickly, as if he is restraining something within him...

"Do you know that you will have to kill in this war if you wish to participate? There is still one last chance for you to back out. If you relinquish your Command Seals and remove yourself from the list of the Masters, I shall grant you asylum in this church."

"I refuse to quit."

The priest chuckled and said; "If so, then I bid you welcome to the Holy Grail War, Shirou Emiya."

Shirou abruptly turned his back from Kirei and began to walk rather fast towards the door as he said; "We're done here, let's go Tohsaka."

Rin was somewhat befuddled by Shirou's demeanor, gone is the well-mannered yet rather charismatic young man, and on his place, there was a warrior-like figure who is currently restraining himself from going overboard.

When he opened the door, Rin was the first to get out, and the priest then proclaimed; "Rejoice, Shirou Emiya, for your wish shall be-"

He never got to finish his sentence because Shirou quickly bolted out the door, grabbed the doors and began to quicken the closing of the doors by pushing them inward. But before they got fully closed, the redhead managed to do one last thing...

Which was to give the priest the one finger salute.

When the door was fully closed, Kirei found himself far from being offended. He was rather amused by Shirou Emiya's demeanor towards him, it was not as pleasant of a feeling as seeing somebody's suffering or tasting his favorite meal, but it was somewhat close.

...

* * *

...

"Emiya-kun, why did you do that?" Rin demanded as she were walking at a rather fast pace along with him, "I mean, I get why someone would dislike him, he's creepy as all hell and his preference in food is atrocious, but why are you so rude to him?"

"What happened there?" Saber asked the twin-tailed girl, who is also rather curious as to why Shirou looked so angry.

"I don't know...! he just treated Kirei, the supervising priest, like he's holding a grudge against him!" answered Rin. "Shirou, I want to know why you seem to hate him so much, you guys just met right?"

Shirou slowed down for a bit when they finally exited the church area, and after a few moments of silence and walking, he said; "I don't trust him."

"...Why?" asked Rin who is still confused, "Shirou, not only that he is a member of the Church, which is the neutral party in this war, he's also a veteran, he was involved in the previous War and knows about its workings, it would be foolish of you to not trust him."

As a response, Shirou pointed his index finger upwards and said; "There is only _one_ man that I can trust who had eyes like the ones that the priest has." he stated before he put down his hand and continued, "...And he is no longer of this world now."

Hearing his rather solemn tone, Rin briefly wondered who it was that he spoke of. And what did he meant by the priest's eyes? Was there something weird about them?

Before she could ask anything further, a new voice interrupted them.

"You should heed what he said, little child."

The trio turned towards the source of the voice, and they found that there was darkness that enveloped a rather large tree, making it hard for them to see who spoke.

But it was clearly a woman, a woman with a rather deep, rich voice, indicating that she is a mature woman.

"Who's there?!" asked Rin, not liking the fact that a potential enemy had caught her off-guard. Saber also became rather tense as she looked towards the darkness that covered the speaker's identity.

"You are far too trusting." she said, not answering Rin's demand for an answer, "The boy's insight is invaluable, even someone such as _I_ have to admit that... and it would do you good to listen to him."

Then suddenly, the darkness was unveiled by the shining moon as the clouds above dispersed, and it allowed the three to see who she was.

And they saw that there was a woman with long blonde hair and a pair of crimson eyes sitting on one of the lower branch of the tree as she gazed at them, the woman wore a black button-up shirt with black pantsuit, a pair of black-colored heelless dress shoes, and a long-sleeved white coat with a tuft of white fur on its collar.

"But then again, you _are _his daughter after all..." the woman remarked.

Saber's eyes widened before she instantly moved in front of Shirou, changed into her battle dress, and drew her invisible sword once again, "Archer...!" she hissed out as she narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

Rin instantly got confused by the name that Saber's using to call the red-eyed woman, "Archer? Saber, she's not _my_ Servant. Not to mention, that Archer's a he, not a she."

And the raven-haired girl is also wondering what the blonde woman meant by she being his daughter... does she know about her father? And why did she felt as if she was being mocked when the woman said that?

However, the Servant of the Sword didn't give an instant reply to what Rin said as the red-eyed woman jumped down from the tree branch gracefully and walked closer to the other blonde woman.

The two of them stared at each other as they were a few inches apart from each other, Saber's anger and trepidation was rather apparent in her expression as she glared at the red-eyed woman who was a few centimeters taller than her, but yet the other blonde merely smiled confidently as she gazed into Saber's eyes, her posture shows how relaxed she is, it's as if she knows that nothing that they can do could hurt her.

Saber, still glaring at the unknown woman, said to Rin, "She's not an Archer of this War, that I can tell you. However, make no mistake, she _is _a Servant."

"...What? But that means..." she narrowed her eyes at the red-eyed woman as she moved closer to Shirou, she began to sweat out of fear as she realized what the woman really is, "...The power of the Holy Grail... it's abundance of energy _could_ provide a True Incarnation for the deceased...!" she exclaimed, "I can't believe it... she's a resurrected Heroic Spirit, a Servant who won the last war!"

The red-eyed Servant then moved her gaze from Saber, and towards the one standing behind her, the one who is currently staring at her without fear in his eyes. And her smile widened when they made eye contact, "So, we meet once more my boy..."

Saber turned her head slightly to look at Shirou while Rin did the same, and to their surprise, they saw that Shirou is not scared one bit despite hearing what the twin-tailed magus just said. "So it seems..." Shirou said without anger, fear, obliviousness, nor arrogance. "To think that you really are a hero... it seems that I should've listened to my instinct back when we first met."

"You were not as mature as you are now, my boy. You can hardly blame yourself for such oversight." said the resurrected hero. "But you _are_ an interesting human nonetheless, at least... for a product of a disappointing era."

"I'm glad that you think of me as such then." he said neutrally.

She chuckled and said; "As you should be, my boy... After all, one should not take a king's interest lightly... lest they suffer the consequences..."

...

...

* * *

**End of Chapter 1**

* * *

And... done.

So, how about that? What do you think about the physical Magic Circuits? And did you see the arrival of Gil-ko coming from a mile away?

Well, if you want to know what's going to happen next, stay tune for the next chapter!

By the way, if you're wondering what kind of voice that Gil-ko has, just imagine her being voiced by either of these Seiyuu(Japanese VA):

-Marina Inoue (who voiced Yozora Mikazuki in Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai.).

-Megumi Toyoguchi(who voiced Sola-Ui in Fate/Zero and Chifuyu Orimura in Infinite Stratos.).

-Shizuka Itou(who voiced Hildegarde in Beelzebub and Kaori Kanzaki in Toaru Majutsu no Index)

-Yoshiko Sakakibara(who voiced Sir Integra in Hellsing Ultimate)

Anyway, that was the end of my little rant. See you in eight to nine days from now for the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** TYPE-MOON owns the Fate series, including Fate/Stay Night.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The King's Whim.  
**

* * *

_Fuyuki City Memorial Park. Late Afternoon. A couple of years before the Fifth Holy Grail War.  
_

In the Fuyuki City Memorial Park, where once, a great battle was waged between two people standing on the precipice of complete annihilation, a certain red-eyed blonde woman wearing a black jacket over her white button-up shirt along with black-colored pair of slacks gazed upon the city filled with her subjects... and found them wanting.

It had been years since she was reincarnated as a human once more and not as a spirit contained within the Root's boundaries called the Throne of Heroes. Her era had been long gone, and she found that her world no longer had the beauty which once held the worthiness to be called as hers.

A treasure it was not, as it had become a decayed possession with lessened value due to how complacent and worthless the inhabitants had become.

And she's sickened by it.

She was almost willing to discard such a worthless possession like one would throw a rotten apple. But, she wasn't that foolish. No, she instead sought for purification. To renew the world and claim her rightful place as the king of everything in the universe.

Yes... the world shall be made anew, a more glorious and beautiful world, one that would be worthy to be a part of her treasury.

For this worthless world was not.

She stood up from the bench that she had sat on and began to walk towards the park's exit, her stature was relaxed yet confident.

But then, the woman stopped in place when she felt a presence nearby... a strong presence that seemed to radiate power, but not only that...

...Whoever this person was, he also exuded confidence, pride, and strength... but he hid it beneath a mask of complacency...

And for a second, she wondered why such a person would hide such traits, to lower himself to such degree, to not let her truly feel the aura that he had...

Why? It was a despicable act to hide such a thing as if it ashamed him, an act that she will not condone. For even if it was just his presence, it was enough for her to judge him as someone worthy of her slightest attention.

And so she turned towards him, and she saw that the one who had caught her interest was a young boy with short red hair, no older than thirteen years old, walking towards her position as he looked at the ground and placed his hands on the pockets of his dark blue jacket.

...Him? She could hardly believe it. Such a young boy was the one whose presence she felt? Preposterous!

But despite what she saw, her mind knew that it was unmistakable, the boy _did _possess an aura worthy of a king beneath the mask of a plebian that he had donned for himself.

The blonde woman placed her hands on her hips as she stood on his path, "Boy." she called him.

The redhead tilted his head up and stared right into her eyes, and she saw that his gaze changed from being neutral and unassuming into one of recognition.

He instantly knew what she was.

At the very least, he recognized that she was not a mere peasant like the others.

But he didn't flinch, he didn't succumb to fear, he didn't stare at her out of awe, he didn't tilt his head so that he would break the eye contact, and he didn't even wilt under her gaze.

He acknowledged her presence, and he reciprocated kindly, his mask was discarded immediately as he returned her gaze with his own.

How fascinating. Such bravery was a rare thing in this era. To know a king and challenge her directly is laughable, but yet...

She found him even more interesting than before.

The fact that his stare reminded her of a certain wild-man whom she had befriended in her lifetime instantly became one of the factor that made her interest in him burn rather vigorously.

The boy didn't say anything, nor the woman, and both of them stared at each other and ignored their surroundings, the park was rarely visited by anyone, and as such, it wasn't that far-fetched to say that they were the only people present in the park.

She grinned rather menacingly and said; "You know who I am, boy." she stated.

The young redhead's answer was, "No... I do not know _who _you are... but you _are_ remarkably different than other people." he said resolutely, "I am able to tell that much at least."

"Oh~?" she purred as her eyebrows raised in amusement, "How am I different, boy?"

"It's your aura." answered the redhead, "Your dominating presence just doesn't belong here, it's as if you're someone from another era entirely. Someone who had lived through times of both glory and struggle, through moments of great triumph... and unbearable sorrow. Like the characters of legends and myths from the past."

...Well now... how did this little gem elude the king's sight for so long?

"You are _very_ interesting, boy..." she said as she looked at him with the emotion called desire physically apparent in her eyes, "Tell me your name then, and consider it as an honor, for you have caught my interest despite being a human from a disgraceful era."

"I am Shirou Emiya." said the now named redhead.

"Shirou Emiya..." the blonde woman said, liking how the name sounded, "Hm. You have provided your king an enjoyable respite, boy. A refreshing whiff of fresh air in such a polluted world. You should be proud of yourself." she said with a cocksure smile.

"Should I?" asked Shirou, not out of confusion, but out of curiosity. "Forgive me, but I believe I do not find myself proud for such a thing."

The woman was far from feeling slighted by his answer, instead, she was curious enough to humor him, "Oh really? Boy, I should punish you for refusing to have pride for giving your king her enjoyment... but I decide to humor you this once. What will satisfy you? What is the thing that will make you proud of yourself?" she asked with a demanding tone.

Shirou was silent for a second before he said; "To die following the path that I have set upon myself."

...Hmm~, For such a boy to declare an oath like that so boldly, either he's a foolishly idealistic boy who had no idea what his ideal entailed...

Or that he was an abnormal human being who had been distorted to the point where he could not be considered a child.

"Really? Then tell me the path that you follow, boy." she demanded of him.

"The path that I follow is the path to become a hero." he answered.

The blonde woman blinked before she chuckled, and after a second, she laughed heartily, "A _Hero? _Ahahahahahaha! Truly, there is not a thing funnier than that! Do you realize the sheer ridiculousness of the path that you follow boy?"

"I do." he answered resolutely, yet not angrily, despite the fact that she had just mocked his way of life.

She laughed once more before she said; "Boy, do you realize what one must do to be called a hero? Of the things that one must achieve to be recognized as such? And of the power that one must have to perform whatever task one must undertake?" she asked him before chuckling once more, this time however, her anger was shown, "It is an impossibility boy! One does not _choose _to be a hero! He is _chosen_! A path that you choose to walk on has no clear goal for you to achieve!"

Far from being angry or discouraged, the boy merely smiled, "No clear goal? Then I'm afraid that you have misjudged what I said, sorry for that."

She narrowed her eyes and raised her eyebrows, "...What do you mean boy?"

"I wish to become a hero to those that I hold dear." he answered, "A hero by the definition of someone who could protect those that I could. And to defeat any opposition that would endanger them, that is the goal in my path."

"And who are the people that you hold dear boy?" she asked with apparent curiosity.

"My father is one." he answered immediately, "Then there's Taiga, a friend of mine who acts like my older sister, and Sakura, a girl whom I've been befriending for a couple of years and... well, she acts as if she's my younger sister than anything else really. And then there's... well, while _he _doesn't need protection, he's very valuable to me."

"Then what of the others, boy?" she asked him, "What of the people here?" she said as she extended her hands, "The mongrels living their worthless lives in this city? This world? What do you consider them as?"

"People that I haven't known yet." Shirou answered it rather simply.

"Then you do not consider them worth saving?"

"Of course not. Though I do not know them personally, if their lives were in danger that was made due to others' machination, I will not be hesitant to give mine to save them if it's within my ability to do so. That is my way of living." answered Shirou.

"But you have no knowledge about who these mongrels really are." she argued further, "What if one of these people that you have saved from certain danger turned out to be a person so pathetically evil, that if you looked back, you would find that it would be better to just left them to die?"

"I do not deal in what ifs." Shirou answered swiftly, "I will give them the benefit of the doubt, because nobody deserves to die just because of a prejudice that might or might not be true."

The blonde woman then smiled again, seemingly satisfied by what he said, "Hmm~ such a curious one you are. A hero for a few and those in dire need, regardless of who they might be... such a goal may not be impossible for you... after all, you are quite different than these mongrels." she then walked closer to him and cupped his cheek rather affectionately, "I'll be looking forward to see you fully grown, my boy... for it would be quite a sight to see."

She pat his cheek once before leaving with a pleased feeling that was given by the boy.

'Shirou Emiya... Hm, whether his quality is genuine or not, only time will tell. And _then _I will see with my own eyes whether or not you are truly worthy of my attention boy...'

...

* * *

...

_Present time..._

"Shirou..." Saber began as she kept her stance and glared at Archer warily, "How come you know her...?" she asked through her gritted teeth.

"I met her a couple of years ago at the memorial park." he answered, still not breaking the eye contact with the Archer of the previous War.

"Yes, we did." answered the blonde Archer, "It was a serendipitous encounter, to meet someone that could be considered as the pride of this era... But still, I have yet to see his capability. Are you still following that caustic path, boy?"

His eyes narrowed slightly and said; "Yes, I still am."

She then smirked, "As expected, I suppose... You are not like the simple mongrels that inhabit this era. An interesting exception... one that amuses me so..."

"Archer...! You will not lay a hand on him!" Saber threatened her, having an idea of what her curiosity would entail.

She turned towards the green-eyed blonde and smirked, "Oh do not worry yourself dear, I'll _have _him when the time comes." she stated. "After all, the world is my garden... and he's a fruit not ripe enough yet to be plucked."

Saber narrowed her eyes even more and the wind began to converge around her as the outline of the invisible sword seems to shimmer with energy, "I will not warn you twice Archer!" she threatened the taller woman.

"And I expect you to do so, Saber my dear." she replied without missing a beat, "But... it seems that you should not focus your attention solely to me." she stated as she looked towards the place where their backs were turned because of her presence.

They turned their head slightly, and saw that there was another presence in the empty street, a little girl with white hair and red eyes wearing purple overcoat and boots, along with a big, purple Ushanka that had no flaps to cover her ears.

Rin and Saber were once again wary, despite her stature, her aura was rather out of place, for it made her unnervingly intimidating.

But Shirou...

"Oh, it's you." he said in recognition, making the raven-haired magus and the blonde-haired knight turned to him in slight befuddlement.

The little girl smiled once more, "So you remember me Onii-chan? Ehehehe~ I'm flattered!" she said rather cutely.

"Why is it that you seem to know potential enemies beforehand Emiya-kun?" Rin asked in a rather irritated tone of voice. Because it was just ridiculous, it's as if he's a natural magnet for trouble!

Saber's eyes widened slightly though unnoticed by everyone nearby, 'That appearance... could she be...?' she thought before she threw the speculations that she had made out of her mind, 'No... she's just too young to be _her._ But then again... they look so similar...'

The little girl then lifted the sides of her overcoat slightly, showing the white skirt beneath it and bowed as she greeted them, "Pleased to meet you all, my name is Illyasviel von Einzbern. But you should already know this Onii-chan, along with you... Tohsaka Rin."

"...Einzbern...!" Rin exclaimed in shock, 'One of the founding families... damn it, to think that we would face such an enemy this soon!'

Shirou didn't even bother to ask Rin for explanation as he then asked Illya, "So you're here to fulfill that promise you made?" he said without a trace of fear, instead, he was smiling.

She giggled at his response, "Ehehe~! That's right Onii-chan!"

"...Emiya-kun, what promise did she make to you?" Rin asked apprehensively.

"She said that she will kill me the next time we meet." Shirou answered nonchalantly, his eyes never leaving Illya for even one second.

"...WHAT?!" yelled Rin.

"Shirou, what do you mean by that? What grudge does she hold against you?" asked the Servant of the Sword.

"I don't know." answered Shirou with a shrug, as if not caring either way. "When I asked her, she just said that it was personal."

The blonde Archer narrowed her eyes at the white-haired little girl, obviously not amused by what she said, and so she replied with; "Do not delude yourself child, it is not within your power to demand his end. It is within mine. And when I say he lives, he shall live." she said possessively.

The little girl giggled once more before saying; "I'm afraid that it's not possible..." she then trailed off as she flicked her fingers.

And suddenly, a Servant came into being, a monstrous-looking Servant, a being much big than everyone nearby, grey-skinned, a pair of red eyes, one normal-looking and one ominously glowing, the Servant only wore an armor that resembled a kilt, leaving his extremely and abnormally muscled body exposed. On his right hand, he wielded a sword-axe hybrid that was made out of a slab of rock, almost as large as the monstrous Servant, and the way he wielded it suggest that he had an ungodly amount of strength.

The Servant didn't speak, he didn't even utter a single noise except for the sound his subdued breathing, like the sound of a mad dog on a leash, waiting for its master to speak the order to strike.

"...Because I have been waiting for this moment for a long time." Illyasviel said gleefully.

Rin was the first to voice out her worries, "Damn it, that's...! That girl's Servant... it's power is unbelievable...!"

Saber turned her sword away from the blonde Archer and towards the grey-skinned Servant who was under the little girl's command, ignoring the potential threat of the blonde Archer and focusing on the apparent threat that was the little girl's Servant.

"Well~, do not worry Onii-chan~! I'll be sure to make your death painless! Go forth, Berserker! Crush them all!" she commanded the Servant.

The mad Servant roared before he charged...

But before Saber could even react, he was unable to move due to a set of chains that was summoned from golden ripples that were materialized so suddenly that surrounded him. The gigantic Servant tried to break free, but for some reason, he was unable to escape the chains' binding, no matter how hard he tried to do so.

Illya's eyes widened in fear and slight awe, how could her Servant be stopped so easily?! He's supposed to be the strongest of them all, right?!

The blonde Archer chuckled menacingly and said; "Foolish little girl... did you really think that the mad dog will bring you an easily attainable victory? Your delusion runs deeper than I thought!"

"W-what did you do?!" the white-haired girl yelled the question to the blonde Archer out of rage and frustration, "Why did you protect him?! Are you his Servant?!"

"No, I am not his Servant." answered the blonde Archer, "And I'm not protecting him either..."

Ignoring the questioning looks that Rin, Saber and Illya gave her, she turned to Shirou and said; "Boy, show me your capability. Engage yourself in combat with that rabid dog of hers." she ordered him.

Rin's eyes widened at what she said, "W-WHAT?!"

Saber's eyes narrowed, angered by what the woman just said, she then pointed her sword at the Archer's neck, "Archer...! What are you planning?! Why are you ordering him to die?!" she hissed out.

The blonde Archer merely smirked and said; "Why Saber, I can't believe you underestimate him. Have you so little faith in the boy? Despite the fact that he's your Master?" she asked of her.

"My Master or not, you're thinking of sending a normal human to fight a Servant!" she retorted, "It's a death sentence! A human being cannot simply fight a Heroic Spirit!"

Her smirk merely widened at that, "And when did he ever say that he was normal?"

At that, Saber's eyes along with Rin's widened. How could she know him so well? To even use the phrase that he had said just a couple of hours before?

Shirou, on his part, merely sighed, but it was not out of exasperation or grim acceptance. He then began to walk towards the chained mad Servant, his eyes showing no hesitation... nor fear...

He could feel his prana reserves being restored, it was not full, not yet... but it was enough.

He's ready to fight the Servant of Madness.

Rin immediately grabbed his arm in order to stop him, "Emiya-kun, are you CRAZY?!" she yelled, "You're not really thinking of fighting that monster are you?! It's a foolish thing to do! Do you have a death wish or something?!"

"...I will not die." Shirou answered Rin before he smiled to assure her, "Trust me."

In response, her eyes widened, and a moment afterwards, she gnashed her teeth and she tightened her grip on Shirou's arm, "No. No no no no no no **no**! You will _not _fight him, you understand? If you do, you'll die before you even had a chance to retaliate!"

"Listen to her Shirou!" said Saber as she glared at Shirou,"I will take care of him for you, I am your Servant, I-"

She was cut off when the blonde woman suddenly summoned a sword out of the golden ripple that she conjured and placed it near Saber's neck. She smiled rather menacingly before saying; "_You _will remain in place... as will _you_, little girl. Because I did not order either two of you to fight that mad dog. I only ordered the boy."

Saber's anger was apparent as her scowl became even more prominent, "Archeeeeer...!"

She chuckled at Saber's reaction before saying; "Release the boy from your grip little child... lest you suffer the consequence of disobeying the order of the one true king."

Rin was reluctant to do so, this Archer is insane, she was more than willing to let Emiya fight the Servant on his own while she hold his Servant at bay? How utterly despicable! What kind of a hero was she?

But Shiro then placed his free hand on Rin's shoulder and said; "Don't worry, I won't die. I promise."

...That smile again...

Why? Why was he still smiling despite being ordered to die? Did he believe that he could fight that monster evenly?

...Well, considering that he had some mysterious ability that allowed him to fight Lancer, maybe he _could_ defeat Berserker, if not at least landing a couple of hits at that monster?

...No, no no no! Do not think of such a thing, he must be stopped! _She _must be stopped! The blonde Archer was both dangerous and insane! If only her Servant wasn't injured... He could've helped them in this situation...!

"My patience is wearing thin, little girl..."

...But then again, there was nothing that she could do... the insane Archer's demand was not negotiable, considering that she had nothing that can be used to fight her, let alone defeat her...

Even Saber, the Servant whom she considered to be the strongest among the others was rather apprehensive with her... That alone was a testament to how powerful the blonde Archer really was...

And so Rin let go of Shirou's arm reluctantly. He patted her shoulder once before saying; "I'll be back, okay Rin? Saber?"

He then turned towards the still-chained Berserker and walked towards the monster with a calm gait.

The redhead then buttoned up his dark blue coat to prepare himself for a bout as he walked closer and closer to the chained mad Servant, who was currently clenching his teeth in perpetual state of anger.

When they were quite a few feet away from each other, Shirou breathed deeply, closed his eyes as he tilted his head downwards, and with the mental image of a lightning hitting him and sending electricity through his nerves, he then said...

"...Trace... On."

And on his body, a set of armor was materialized over his coat and trousers, consisting of a pair of segmented shoulder plates, a pair of gauntlet, and a pair of armored boots. All of them were made from high-quality metal that was tinted silver, almost like Saber's own. And carved into them were lines, esoteric in its shape and tinted in black, contrasting the silver color that surrounded them.

The boy opened his eyes and stared into Berserker's own, without fear, without hesitation, and his eyes... they were filled with determination.

Then, the chains retreated back into the sub-space where they were summoned from, and Illya managed to get herself out of her shocked state, "H-hmph! Whoever you are, you are an idiot to order Onii-chan to fight him! Berserker is the strongest of all Servants after all, none can defeat him. Berserker! KILL HIM!" she yelled out her order.

Berserker then roared in response before he attacked Shirou with blinding speed.

And only few of them noticed the black lines carved on Shirou's boots began to glow...

**"BOOOOM!"**

The swing of the weapon that the monster of a Servant wielded caused the concrete below to be cleft in two and the air to shudder as it created an explosion that reverberated throughout the area.

"Shirou!/Emiya-kun!" Saber and Rin shouted at the same time.

Illya however, laughed gleefully as the smoke billowed upon the destruction that her Servant has caused, she believed that he had been killed in the attack, "Aahahahahahaha! You sent him to his death! There's nothing left of him now!" she exclaimed gleefully.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that, Illya."

Shirou's voice echoed, and it made the spectators turned towards the source...

And they found him standing at the top of the electric pole nearby, still focusing his eyes on the mad Servant below.

'...He... he managed to avoid that attack?!' Rin thought in awe, 'I didn't even see him move!'

Saber and Illya were as surprised as Rin was, and the blonde Archer merely smirked knowingly.

Shirou then cocked his right hand back as he clenched his fist, and suddenly, the black lines on the gauntlet on his right hand glowed with bright golden light...

And with the sound of crackling electricity, they saw golden-colored lightning began to emerge from the gauntlet... Shirou leaped towards the mad Servant and planted the fist covered with crackling golden lightning right on the Berserker's head...

And the Servant of Madness was thrown back by the sudden massive discharge of energy that the gauntlet made, the night was suddenly brightened by the lightning that he just produced and the sound of thunder made by the aftereffect of the attack resounded throughout the empty area.

The Berserker managed to regain his footing, the mad Servant looked at Shirou with an expression resembling a recognition of a threat before he roared and charged towards the boy once more.

Beyond their comprehension, Rin, Saber and Illya saw Shirou reciprocated the mad Servant's charge with his own...

...And thus began the bout between the abnormal yet powerful human and the legendary hero of old.

The clashing of the gauntlet and the blade-axe created ripples in the air that dealt a lot of damage to the surroundings, but Shirou did not appear to be affected by it due to his enhanced Reinforcement combined with his armor that must've covered himself in a thin defensive layer made out of prana, and as such, he was able to deal with the Berserker at close range.

And the Berserker knew that the small boy was a threat despite his maddened state, and as such, his attacks became stronger, and it forced Shirou to dodge more and to give an even more powerful counterattack, knowing that if one of the monster's attacks were to hit him, it could mean his death...

But without that feeling of danger... where would the fun be?

And so the sounds of destruction became the main theme of the struggle, the sight of the redheaded human dodging every swing of the mad hero's attack and his equally powerful retaliation along with the mad Servant's show of strength and finesse in using the massive weapon became the events that the spectators dare not miss.

To a pair of normal eyes such as Rin's and Illya's, the Berserker and Shirou were almost invisible, and the only thing that _was _visible was the aftereffects of their attacks, the Berserker's strength and Shirou's lightning-producing gauntlet caused quite a lot of destruction towards the area.

The cacophony of destruction echoed throughout the surrounding area like a disharmonious orchestration of musical instruments in an amphitheater as Shirou_, _despite the supposed impossibility of a feat, go toe-to-toe with a monstrous-looking hero _and managed to stand his ground._

"...No way..." Illya uttered out in fear and slight awe as she saw what's happening, her Onii-chan was capable of fighting her Berserker in equal ground, "No... this can't be happening... H-how is this possible?! My Herakles couldn't possibly be equaled by a normal human! Least of all by him!"

Rin's eyes widened even more when she heard what Illya said; "Herakles...? The greatest hero of ancient Greece? And he's summoned as Berserker...? Damn it, the Einzbern really giving their all in this War..."

But then she turned towards the redhead and said; "...But to think that monster is being held at bay by _him... _what _are _you, Emiya-kun?" she asked out of awe.

Saber was as stunned as she could be, her Master turned out to be a human _very _capable of handling what could be considered as the strongest Servant in the War, 'A Berserker Herakles... in his legend, his strength is known to be monstrous, even when sane. ...But what does that make my Master, who could fight him evenly at such a state?'

But the golden Archer merely looked at the battle with a neutral expression, not betraying her emotions even slightly.

Amidst the battle, Shirou managed to hear the information regarding Berserker's identity, and so he thought, 'If a hero with such diverse abilities is restricted to a class, then he can only use a Noble Phantasm that corresponds with the class that he's summoned as...His strength alone could be said as his Noble Phantasm, and Tohsaka said that a really maddened Berserker would just rely on his enhanced strength instead of the crystallization of his legend. But considering the feats that he performed during his life...'

Shirou's eyes widened as he remembered one of the most prominent legend associated with Greece's greatest hero, a legend that could fit into any class that he's summoned as and changed as need be to suit the class' limitations.

But then, thanks to his sudden realization, the Berserker managed to land a hit on Shirou, but the redhead narrowly blocked that particular attack, considering that the beast amplified his base strength and velocity into that one attack and as such, that one slash of his blade-axe was far more powerful than it had been before.

It caused Shirou to be thrown for about twelve to fifteen feet away, although he managed to regain his footing afterwards and assessed the situation once more.

The Berserker was using more and more of his strength, that much is certain, considering that the gauntlet that he had used to block the madman's attack was cracked due to the amount of force put into the blow. So... what should he do in this situation...?

...Like that needed to be asked.

He took one deep breath quickly, before he uttered...

_**...I am the sum of all weapons...**_

And suddenly, as if the words that he uttered were capable of warping the state of reality to his will, the cracks in his gauntlet were restored in an erratic dismantling and reassembling fashion, returning it back to its previous state, and in doing so, the gauntlets' durability and power were amplified two-fold.

He then dashed, faster than before, and delivered three swift punches onto the monster's ribs and Shirou could see a moment's shock as the energy discharge got through Herakles' body's durability and made his blood leaking out through his mouth.

But Shirou didn't stop there... as he then uttered...

_**...Steel is what made me... and Fire is what drives me...**_

And with that, the crackling golden lightning that surrounded his gauntlets began to amplify in both power and brightness, and then he cocked both of his fists back before he delivered a two-handed blow right into Herakles' abdomen...

The deafening sound of thunder signaled the discharge of lightning from the gauntlets, and so the mighty hero was thrown backwards by the thundering electricity that mirrored the power that the hero's father has.

The monster crashed into a concrete wall, destroying it in the process and allowed Shirou to take a breather...

...Along with the spectators, who were thoroughly baffled by what he had done.

"...I didn't see what just happened..." muttered Tohsaka Rin in disbelief, "No, that doesn-, shouldn-, couldn-..." Rin began to lose her ability to coherently speak words and in the end, she just said, "...I'm dreaming, yup, I am dreaming... no way a non-Servant could defeat a hero. No, no way that this is really, truly happening..."

"...Rin..." said Saber, who is as shocked as Rin, "...I think Shirou just..."

Rin didn't let Saber finished as she then goes berserk, "GRAAAAAH! I KNOW! I KNOW WHAT I JUST SAW, ALRIGHT?!" she roared to the sky, "It's clear as day, Emiya-kun is some kind of a super magus! When I discovered that he's a magus I just thought that he might be one that comes from a relatively unknown lineage, but this?! What kind of human can summon some kind of a Mystic Code that could defeat a Servant like that?!" she asked as she pointed towards Shirou.

"A distorted human." answered the blonde Archer, prompting the raven-haired magus and Saber to turn their heads toward her, "A human who had trespassed the accepted boundaries of how a human... no, how a living being should act, and because of it, he was granted with a rare power that only a few person could have, even during my reign."

The blonde Archer then smiled as she licked her lips and watched Shirou like a wolf coveting her prey, "Truly, he fascinates me so..."

The redhead didn't hear any of that however, as his eyes is still focused on the seemingly fallen enemy.

"...Twelve lives huh...?" he muttered out loud enough for Illya to hear, he then turned towards the white-haired girl and asked; "How many did I take?"

Her eyes were as wide as they can be, not only did he manage to take down Berserker, but he also managed to figure out that the hero had a Noble Phantasm that allowed him to be killed for at least eleven times with the twelfth being his final life?

"...Two." she answered begrudgingly while inwardly, she was fuming, 'How is this possible? Onii-chan is not supposed to be that strong! He didn't even use his Servant yet! In fact, if that blonde lady didn't prevent Saber from attacking Herakles as well, Herakles could've lost even more than just two of his lives...!'

Shirou then smiled, both out of confidence and slight pride, "Well, ten more huh...? Give me your best, Illya." he said.

The way he said it could be interpreted as a challenge, or as if he's patronizing her, but yet she couldn't help but notice his sincerity. He really wished her to do her best in ordering the Berserker to kill him.

Although she wanted to order Berserker to attack once more, his confidence indicated his capability, he's got a lot more techniques in his arsenal, and considering that he already knew about Herakles' available Noble Phantasm in his Berserker class, the war of attrition against him would be inevitable, but seeing that the War was just beginning...

"Berserker!" she called the monstrous hero, annoyance and frustration apparent in her voice, "We're leaving!"

The wounds on the grey-skinned hero regenerated as he simultaneously rose up from his lying position, he growled at Shirou before he moved towards Illya and hoisted her up on his shoulder.

"Onii-chan, Rin." she called the two magus, "Next time we meet, I _will_ kill you both."

Shirou merely smiled as the projection of armor disappeared, "I'll look forward to the day you try to, Illya."

Illya's left eye twitched nigh-imperceptibly, she was a bit annoyed by how he's acting, his nonchalance when she first met him and said that she would die soon if he doesn't summon his Servant, his confidence despite the looming figure of Herakles... His demeanor was not like what she had hoped, and his power was nothing like what she was told about him.

This was not fun... not at the very least...

And so the Berserker turned his back away from them and retreated into the night, leaving Shirou, Rin, Saber, and the blonde Archer alone once more...

Rin was the first to broke out of her reverie and when she did so, she walked towards Shirou, who heard the sounds of her footsteps and turned his head to look at her...

But then he found himself staring at the ground, as Rin just smacked his upper head rather abruptly.

"Ow...!" Shirou groaned as he didn't manage to fully use his Reinforcement to protect him from the blow that she just did. He then tilted his head upward, expecting to see Rin's face, "Hey, what was that abo-?"

Only to find no one, and when he tilted his head downwards, he saw that Rin was crouching with her head tilted downwards while holding her hand that she had used to smack Shirou in pain, the knuckles in her hand were reddened and she's grumbling about something rather unsavory beneath her breath.

The redhead rubbed his head sheepishly, '...Well, I guess I instinctively used Reinforcement after all...' He then crouched and placed his hand on Rin's shoulder, "Are you alright Tohsaka?" he asked.

She then looked at him with slightly teary eyes and said; "...What the hell is your head made of Emiya-kun...?" she said.

"Hehe... sorry, I instinctively used Reinforcement... it's become something of a habit." he apologized sincerely. "But why did you punch me anyway?"

"...Do you even need to ask _why?_" Rin asked with gritted teeth, "Emiya-kun, even though you have the ability to fight a Servant, that doesn't make me less worried, in fact, the way you so readily jumped into the fray like that concerned me!"

"...Why should it?" asked Shirou, thoroughly confused.

"Because you should've refused! That's what I, or any normal person would d- And don't you give the 'I'm not normal' schtick to me again!" she warned him when he was about to speak his mind.

"But I'm not." he answered readily.

"But you should be." she retorted back, "Emiya-kun... why didn't you refuse her demand?"

"Because if he did refuse, then you would've been dead." answered the blonde Archer with a graceful smile, "I wouldn't have hesitated to let the mad dog kill you if he refused. But... that's not the only reason, is it boy? You _crave _battle."

Shirou didn't rebut her statement, and it prompted her to say; "You have things far more impressive than that gauntlet, boy. That much I can see... you are not a simple Faker after all. Yet you still used the gauntlet instead... why?"

She lifted her hand to stop him from saying anything and continued with; "Do not answer. I already know what it is... You want to feel the thrill of battle. In every battle, you want to feel the same excitement you felt when you landed an attack on that mad dog, along with the swelling pride bubbling inside your chest when he fell to your last strike... Such a warrior's desire..."

Seeing that Shirou didn't even retort her statement, the blonde Archer merely changed her smile from a rather wicked-looking one to a more sincere one, "You remind me of him so much..." she said rather solemnly.

The Archer then sent the blade that she had been grasping back to the sub-space where she stored it, and ignoring Saber and Rin's wary looks, she walked towards Shirou.

When she was only a few inches away, Shirou could see that she was slightly taller than him, perhaps by a centimeter or so, her red eyes bore into his amber ones, and the eye contact happened for a good couple of seconds.

"Archer! What do you think you're-"

Before Saber could say anything further, the blonde Archer cupped his chin, tilted his head slightly upwards, and planted her lips into his, giving him a rather deep kiss.

Rin and Saber could only gape in shock as the human Servant kissed Shirou rather passionately, and a couple of seconds passed before she began to deepen her kiss as the redhead didn't even try to push her away.

Saber trembled as her cheeks began to redden, she tilted her head downwards, shadowing her eyes and gritted her teeth in anger, "...Wha... w-w-wha... wha... what... WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOIIIIING?!" she yelled as she advanced towards the blonde Archer and swung her invisible sword at her.

The blonde Archer's movement was swift as she avoided the attack made by the flustered Servant of the Sword.

She was now a couple of feet away from Shirou, Rin and Saber, her cheeks were rather flushed and her red eyes were rather cloudy due to lust, she then licked her lips that still has a small amount of saliva that could either be from herself or the redhead that she just kissed, she sighed out of satisfaction and said; "_Hnn~~..._ Even your taste is different, boy... _Very _delectable~" she remarked as she used her thumb to wipe the saliva on her chin.

Saber then placed herself in front of Shirou and pointed her invisible sword at the blonde Archer, "You will not come any closer Archer!" she proclaimed with the prominent blush still on her cheeks.

The blonde Archer merely waved her hand dismissively, "Worry not Saber, I am quite satisfied for now... The boy had grown quite well." she said before she smirked again, "But you _will _be welcomed when the time the boy and I join ourselves comes of course..."

Saber gritted her teeth as her blush became even more apparent, she tightened her grip on her invisible sword out of anger and frustration, "Archeeer...!"

The blonde Archer then turned away from them, as if ignoring Saber's anger, and walked away, "I shall leave for now... But rest assured, we shall meet again. Take care of yourself... Shirou Emiya."

"Wait." he said, and the blonde Archer stopped and turned her head slightly to look into the boy's amber eyes, "Will you tell me your name?" he asked.

The blonde woman merely smiled before answering; "Very well boy. I am known as Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk, the proud daughter of Lugalbanda and Ninsun. And the most prominent King amongst kings. I am the slayer of Humbaba the Terrible, the monstrous giant whom the gods feared. I was the one who slew the Bull of Heaven when the petulant goddess, Ishtar, unleashed it upon my people for my rejection of her advances. I am the one woman who discovered the secret to eternal youth. And the first worthy human to enter the Throne of Heroes, and none that comes after me could even hope to outshine my glory."

The now named Gilgamesh then asked, "There. Does that satisfy you?"

Shirou then replied; "Very." he answered with a wide smile that seemed to convey his elation and satisfaction.

Gilgamesh smirked back, the boy's spiritual fortitude is something to be commended, she could see that he was quite impressed, but what she just revealed didn't even make him mute in awe. "Until we meet again, Shirou Emiya." she said before she walked away from the them and disappeared into the night.

When the trio saw the First Hero left the area, Saber de-summoned her invisible sword and tried to regulate her breathing to subdue her blush.

She then turned to Shirou and gave him a rather harsh glare that she tried to pass off as stern, but ended up looking more like a frustrated glare. "Shirou. You cannot trust that woman." she said.

On his part, Shirou merely raised his eyebrows, his expression wasn't as flustered as Saber's, "Why?"

"...She's an arrogant and pompous woman who will only do good things because of her whim." the green-eyed woman answered, "She is not trustworthy, we must be wary of her. ...And more importantly, what she has in plan for you."

He then scratched his cheek slightly before saying; "Well... let's just see what happens in the future... Besides, she's not that bad."

"Oh~? is she now?" asked Rin with a rather sweet tone, prompting the redhead to turn to the raven-haired girl, whose expression was rather similar to Saber, though her anger, frustration, and the blush on her cheeks was rather apparent as her eyes were being obscured by the shadow that her bangs produced, "Why aren't you a little suspicious of her I wonder~? Oh I know, it's because she _kissed_ you, that's the reason, isn't it? That must've made her rather trustworthy in your eyes."

Seeing her twitching eyebrows and hands, Shirou felt that he was treading on a dangerous ground, "...No, it's not that." he began, "I know from the first time we met that she is someone who is used to do what she likes due to her status and power. As long as what she wants doesn't concern your safety then I'm fine with that. But if she seeks to inflict horrible things on you, then I'll retaliate. I promise you that."

"...But Shirou..." said Saber who began to protest.

"Don't worry." Shirou interjected, "As you saw before, I'm more than capable of fighting a hero of old." he then smirked rather confidently and continued; "Herakles no less..."

Saber couldn't give a good retort to that, it was undeniable, her Master was extremely powerful, even for the standard of a Servant.

Which brings her to this question, "Shirou, what exactly did you do? You summoned a set of armor and a pair of gauntlets that seemed capable of producing lightning. _Golden_ lightning." she stated, "They were not Mystic Codes were they? The amount of power contained within those gauntlets could kill a Servant, not to mention a human being."

"And what was that aria?" added Rin, whose expression had turned to one of curiosity, "You are the sum of all weapons and you're made of steel and driven by fire... they're parts of an aria." the magus stated that fact, "But even with my extensive knowledge of spells, that aria is not known to me... what were they?"

"It's an incantation for a special spell." Shirou answered, "A spell that only I can use. No offense Tohsaka, but even with your remarkable intelligence, I doubt that this will be useful or even works for you."

"Oh?" Rin mouthed out in curiosity as she took what he said as a challenge, "What makes you say that, Emiya-kun?"

"...It's a spell that couldn't be activated by anyone except me. A... kind of a Mystic Code, if you will. Only far more personalized... and internalized." he added the last part under his breath.

Shirou then shifted the flow of the conversation by saying; "So. Now that I am now considered a participant in this war... I guess you expect me to fight you sooner or later yeah?" he asked Rin.

She huffed, noticing that he was trying to keep his Mystic Code spell a secret and decided to abide by his wish to keep it so, "Of course Emiya-kun. Come tomorrow morning, we will be enemies."

Then, Shirou said something that surprised her, "What if I tell you that I refuse that notion?" he asked with a smile.

"...I would say that you're foolish to even think that." Rin replied after a few moments of silence, "Emiya-kun, this is a-"

"-A prestigious competition that was created by three renowned families of magus in which the participants must kill each other to win. Yes, I know that's the gist of what you're going to say, Tohsaka." Shirou interrupted, "But I will tell you this right here and now, I refuse to kill you. Even though you consider me as an enemy, I will not reciprocate it."

"Why?" asked Rin, who was rather befuddled and yet curious by his declaration.

"Because you're different." answered Shirou, "You're different than most magus, Tohsaka. In a good way. I would rather consider you an ally rather than an enemy." he concluded with a sincere smile.

Rin found herself blushing when she heard his statement, how did he find it so easy to compliment someone without even looking embarrassed? Or even be so oblivious as to what he's doing? "N-nevertheless..." she began to speak as she moved her head slightly away to cover her blush, "I'm only helping you here because you're new to this war. That's all. The next time we meet, there will be a battle. Understood?"

In response, Shirou answered with; "I understand. But I do not accept it." he said resolutely, "As I said before, I will not kill you." he adamantly said.

And in the face of his resolution, Rin couldn't even come up with a good retort, he sounded rather childish, that much was certain, but...

It _moved _her somewhat. It was clear to her that he saw her as an ally if not more than that, and his refusal to kill her was not because of a result of a pragmatic mindset, but because of something opposite of that.

"...Fine, do whatever you want then Emiya-kun." Rin answered after a couple of seconds of silence.

He nodded and said; "Very well. So, should we walk you to your home?" he asked her without any hint of underlying intention whatsoever.

"...No, thank you." Rin answered, "You don't have to walk me all the way to my home, I can take care of myself just fine. But... halfway there would be nice." she conceded.

Shirou smiled and said, "Good, then let's go."

...

* * *

...

After Shirou and Rin parted ways near the her family's residence, -with her being rather flustered at the end when Shirou mentioned that she was a really nice person that he really liked and made her storm off rather abruptly-, the redhead and the knight-woman walked back to Emiya residence silently.

However, while Shirou might have no problem in staying silent, Saber was not.

She stole a glance at Shirou every few seconds as they were walking, quite curious as to how he achieved such power. 'It's still hard to believe that a human can defeat a Servant... especially in this age.' she thought, 'And the armors and weapons that he summoned... Tracing, he called them as, specialized Gradation Air... but they're not objects made out of prana, they're artifacts that could be said as the genuine article. Its materials, its powers... all of them are remarkably powerful... Had they were used by a Servant, I would've mistaken them as Noble Phantasms.'

"...Shirou." Saber said, unable to contain her curiosity any longer.

"Yes?" he said.

"This ability of yours, Tracing... what is it exactly?" she asked him, "You said that it was specialized Gradation Air, imitations of objects made out of prana. But the armor, the gauntlets, they're-"

"Real." answered Shirou, he then looked at Saber and said, "Gradation Air is an imperfect mimicry, my Tracing is the ability to completely copy everything with nigh-perfect accuracy. Ninety-nine point eight percent to be exact. Right down to the object's history."

"...I see." answered Saber, who failed in her attempt to not look shocked, "If so... then what was the gauntlet that you're using? I assume that it was an artifact of old, to contain that kind of power."

Shirou smiled rather wryly at that remark and said; "...You can say that."

"...What? Did it not come from the old era?" asked Saber who thought that his answer was rather ambiguous.

Shirou merely shrugged, "Well yes. Just... not the era that you might know." he answered rather cryptically before he turned away and began to walk forward.

Saber was thoroughly confused by his answer, she ran up to his side and asked him, "What do you mean by that?"

Shirou merely sighed and said; "It's one of the many weapons that belonged to my former mentor. He gave them to me as a gift. 'Use it for your future endeavors' he said to me." he then smiled and said; "And I think this is what he meant by that. He can be a bit of a trickster sometimes."

...As much as it unnerved her, his former mentor sounds too similar to a certain wizard of her era... But she's willing to wager that even _he _didn't have an artifact _that_ powerful...!

'Who could this mentor be?' she wondered.

But before she could ask further questions, they have arrived at Shirou's home, it turns out that the moment she asked her first question, they were only just a couple of blocks away from his home.

"Anyway, now that we're here, I guess I have to set you up with a room." Shirou stated as he and Saber entered the house, "I'll go get the extra futon then. You can wait in the living room if you want, I'll prepare the guest room for you."

That halted Saber's previous thoughts, she immediately stopped Shirou by saying; "A moment, Shirou."

He stopped and turned to her, and this prompted her to say; "I shall be in your room, I must guard you in case of an enemy attack when you're sleeping."

Much to Saber's slowly increasing uneasiness, Shirou was silent as he stared at her after she told him that. And after moments of silence, she assumed that he didn't agree with the notion and so she continued speaking; "Shirou, do you not agree with what I said?"

The redhead was silent for a good few seconds more before he sighed, "Can you even be convinced to not sleep in my room?" he asked.

Despite noticing that he was asking it in a rhetorical fashion, Saber answered it anyway, "It would be useless for you to try to convince me that Shirou. Your safety comes first. And an enemy could take an advantage and attacked you in your sleep." she reasoned, "I shall be with you in your room, Shirou." she said with a tone of finality.

And in response, Shirou merely sighed once more as he rubbed his forehead in resignation, "Very well... just let me get the extra futon first. Okay?"

She nodded, glad that her Master didn't refuse the notion, she watched as the redhead went to retrieve the extra futon for her.

The Servant of the Sword then changed back from using her battle dress to the casual outfit that Shirou had given to her before she walked to the living room to wait.

While there, she began to contemplate about her possibility of winning the current War. Unbeknownst to her current Master, she could remember the circumstances of the Holy Grail Wars that she had participated in.

And she's currently participating in her second Holy Grail War. During the fourth Heaven's Feel, she was just a hair's breadth away from victory when there was only her, her previous Master, the blonde Archer known as Gilgamesh, and her own Master during the final proceedings of the war.

But when her hope for salvation was right there in front of her...

_"With the power of this Command Seal... I order you, Saber... to destroy the Holy Grail."_

...It was poignantly taken away from her by her own Master, for reasons that she had never known even to this day. Perhaps it was just to spite her, she once thought, but... her previous Master was not one to do such a petty little thing, despite his indifference and ignorance for her, his own Servant.

But now... Perhaps now she had a chance to win. To fulfill her wish and to make her country better...

After all, her Master in this Fifth Holy Grail War was rather powerful. Much more powerful than the standard of a magus in the modern era even. To the point where it piqued her curiosity quite a bit.

'He said that he has physical Magic Circuits in his body... a magus who could do something like that belonged to the Age of the Gods... current society of magus couldn't possibly hope to achieve what their predecessors could do during that time...'

Though Saber was not a magus by any definition of the word, her... acquaintance, was one. And one of the things that he would share to her in their conversations was that he feared for the future of Magecraft.

He said that as humans were beginning to develop other ways besides Magecraft to conquer nature, the gates that led to the Root of All Things would slowly close themselves. And in time, future generations of magus wouldn't be able to become as strong as their ancestors were.

And her Merlin's words were proven true when she came to know her previous Master and the recent history of the association of magus, their powers have dwindled over generations... But yet, she just saw a magus who was an exception amongst the others.

A Servant Killer.

She lightly chided herself for thinking such a nickname for the redhead magus that was quite similar to the title that her previous Master had.

...And on the subject of her previous Master... that little white-haired, red-eyed girl...

_"Pleased to meet you all, my name is Illyasviel von Einzbern."_

Illyasviel von Einzbern... She had doubts of her identity before, but when she stated her name when she greeted them, her doubts were quickly stomped down. It really _was _her.

Irisviel's daughter. ...But yet, she hadn't grown much since Saber saw her last. And that was ten years ago. It was the reason why she didn't immediately assume that she is the daughter of the Einzbern homunculus in the Fourth War.

And remembering that her mother was made for a purpose by the Einzbern family before... Her presence here could only mean one thing...

And so Saber's expression turned morose.

"Saber?"

Hearing the sound of her current Master calling out to her from a nearby position brought Saber out of her reverie, she swiftly turned to Shirou while trying to hide her surprise and said; "Yes?"

"I just want to let you know that the futon's ready." said Shirou, "What were you thinking about? I saw you mulling over something with a faraway look on your face."

"...I was... I was thinking about this War." she said, "About our chances of winning."

Shirou smiled, not a smug one she noticed, "And how do you think we fare?"

She let herself smile slightly, because her answer was genuine, "It's rather promising."

...

Afterwards, Shirou and Saber realized that it was getting rather late, and so Shirou decided to go to sleep, after all, he was expected to go to school the next morning.

When Saber entered Shirou's room, she noticed that it was rather unremarkable, plain, and very unassuming, somewhat abnormal considering her Master was in his teenage years, so she had thought that his room would be filled with something that would show his hobby or something like that.

And on the floor, there were two futons, positioned a few feet apart from each other, one with blue blanket and the other one red.

"I'll be sleeping on the blue one." said Shirou, "Good night Saber." he said before he went to the futon with blue blanket and lied on it.

Saber noticed that he was not that tired yet, that he was just trying to get this over with. He was not really comfortable with the notion of sharing a room with her. And she assumed, -correctly-, that it was not because she was his Servant, but because she's of the opposite sex.

She sighed, liking, though not really accepting the way he's seeing her as. She's his Servant, his sword and shield to be used, there was really no need for him to treat her with sentimentality.

"Good night Shirou." she replied evenly before she went to lie on the futon with the red blanket.

Due to the imperfect summoning, the prana that he's supplying her with was not as maximum as it should be, and by proxy, it made her less powerful compared to how she was when she was summoned by her previous Master.

She had to talk about it with Shirou when the morning comes. For now, she will rest to minimize the prana consumption to at least make it easier for her to sustain her presence.

And so she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep...

...

* * *

...

_It was a field of blood and corpses. An aftermath of a bloody slaughter, instigated by a tyrant who wielded an incredible power.  
_

_It was a horrid scene, the result of an unbalanced war in which the favor was completely tipped towards the invading force, and despite realizing that fact, the invaded had fought to their last breath... And was slaughtered for their efforts.  
_

_But yet... **she **watched with indifference. Her eyes betrayed no emotions and her expression was statue-like, stern and neutral.  
_

_"If they will not leave my country alone, then I shall do the same to theirs." she said, "If they will not stop trying to usurp my throne for their kings, then I will be taking theirs in return." she continued, "If they thought the King of the Isles would stand idly by and let them attack her country without retaliating... then they will die for that mistake."  
_

_"...This is the only path... the only path that will bring peace to my country... and though it will be long and perilous... I shall bear it without regrets." she finally said._

_Then she lifted the sword she wielded in her hand... A sword blackened by the blood of her enemies that she personally slew, corrupted by the twisted parody of what her previous ideals were and what it had turned her into, and pulsing with an energy no longer fitting to be called holy or sacred.  
_

_And with a mental command, the black sword glowed blood red and she swung it downwards...  
_

_And the petrifying darkness that came out from the blade consumed her view..._

_..._

* * *

...

Saber woke up with a cold sweat. She tried to subdue her erratic breathing, a product of witnessing a horrifying nightmare that she just saw.

'...W-what was that...?!' she frantically thought as she placed her hand on her left breast to quell her erratic heartbeat. 'That... that sword... it was... it... why...? Why was it... how did it become so...?'

She found herself unable to control her emotions as her nightmare was too vivid for her to be forgotten instantly. The field of corpses, the sound of her voice but yet not hers speaking, and the holy sword that was distorted into its antithesis, a sword worthy for demons and...

...And Tyrants...

Her breath hitched as she remembered the shape of the sword, similar in shape, yet different in everything else. It was the thing that forced her to wake up, for the sight of the corrupted blade, despite being in a dream, wrenched her heart. A blade of darkness, a blade not made to give hope...

But despair...

"Saber?"

Hearing the familiar voice of her Master, she turned to where he was lying, and found him staring at her, "What's wrong? I heard your scream."

...Did she? She was so shocked by her nightmare that she didn't know that she screamed when she woke up. "...I-it was nothing, I... ...it was nothing." she said, trying to placate her Master. But it would've worked better if she didn't look so terrified and out of breath.

Which was the reason why her Master didn't buy it, "...Did you have a nightmare?" he asked her.

"...Yes." she reluctantly admitted while she tilted her head away from his gaze.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" he asked with genuine concern as he positioned himself into a sitting position and looked at her with utmost focus.

It took a moment of silence before she said; "No, I will be fine, Shirou."

"...Are you sure?"

She nodded slightly while still not looking directly at him, "...Yes."

He sighed before saying; "Very well... good night Saber." he then returned back to his previous position afterwards.

She then did the same, lying on her bed and closing her eyes, hoping to get some sleep.

But it never came, because when she closed her eyes, the sight of the blackened holy sword greeted her again, as if taunting her. Mocking her for her failures in the past.

She clenched her eyes shut and tightened her fist until it turned white in an attempt to drive the image away from her head, but it didn't work.

After a few failed attempts, she was caught by surprise when she felt someone hugging her from behind.

And then, she heard... "You shouldn't have lied, Saber."

It was Shirou, he noticed that she was lying, that something was _not_ alright. And then he said; "Whatever it was, it was just a dream, alright?"

She wanted to protest, to make him move away, to say that it was nothing, but she somehow couldn't find the energy to do so, "I... Shirou, it was no-"

"Saber." he said her title to chide her, "It was just a dream." he said it again.

"...Shirou, I..."

Then he hugged her tighter, something that made her breath hitch and cut her off from speaking her prepared excuses, and then he said, "It's alright."

She felt her cheeks flushed, what he said soothed her, and combined with his hug, it relaxed her.

Saber then decided to let him did so, and while accepting the rather affectionate gesture, she closed her eyes and tried to go sleep...

...

And it was a peaceful, dreamless one.

...

* * *

**End of Chapter 2.**

* * *

Alright, so, I guess you're wondering what that dream that Saber had was all about huh?

Well, just stay tune for the next chapter to see it, dear readers.

So, to those of you who's thinking that I just basically replaced Male!Gilgamesh's possessive love of Saber into Fem!Gilgamesh's possessive love of Shirou... Yes. It's somewhat like that.

However! (Here comes a little rant.) While Fem!Gilgamesh's characteristics in this fic are somewhat similar to the canon one in Fate/Stay night, I'm going to incorporate a little bit of his -her- legend here.

Which is the fact that in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the king known as Gilgamesh had a character development by befriending Enkidu, the asexual mud golem created by the gods whose worldview could not be more different than the King of Uruk.

A slight problem that I have with Type-Moon's interpretation of Gilgamesh's character is his overbearing arrogance. I get that this Gilgamesh's legend is a little bit different, (He has the Potion of Youth for one thing, indicating that at the very least, he had extracted the plant's essence.), but can't they at least show more of his decent side?

This is the once-arrogant king who got quite a lot of character development through his grievances and failures here. After what he had been through, it's not really that far-fetched to think that he should be a lot more decent compared to what we had seen of him through Fate/Stay night or Fate/Zero.

(For instance, in this chapter, instead of calling Illya as 'meat doll' or 'flesh puppet' or something similar, Fem!Gilgamesh called her 'little girl', -albeit in a rather derogatory manner-. This is deliberately done, because of Enkidu's origin as a mud puppet created by the gods, calling a being somewhat similar to him with names like 'meat doll' is just something that she will not do.)

So, with all that said, in this universe's events of Fate/Zero, Fem!Gilgamesh was quite a decent person, she could be arrogant and whimsical at times, which really worked well at pushing Saber's buttons as her attitude, by the King of Knights' standards, didn't fit that of a king, but that's just her nature. Because as her legend implies, she became a nicer person than she was before after Enkidu's death and her failure to reach true immortality.

But, as we all know, the corrupted Grail did a number on her, making her personality a lot darker than it actually is.

(Gen Urobuchi, the writer of Fate/Zero, be it the light novel or the anime, did say that the Grail did have an effect that changed Gilgamesh, he didn't specify what it is, but I'm going with this: The Grail's corruption did more than just giving him a body with a more concrete ties to Gaia, but that it also changed his very basic thought process, -and considering the canon Gilgamesh's usual shenanigans before he got his human body in Fate/Zero, it's safe to say that his mind got a lot more screwy than it already was-.)

So, despite the 'corruption' that she had experienced from the Grail at the end of 'Fate/Zero' of this story, Fem!Gilgamesh would be portrayed as a slightly more likeable figure, and that she would learn -preferably the hard way- that to get the redhead magus, her possessiveness would never work.

And, at the risk of giving away a spoiler, her character development in _this _story would be even more prominent when I bring _him _into the story.

...This _him _is an important character that will be revealed in due time of course.

Anyway, that's all that I have to say, see you at the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 3

**TYPE-MOON **owns the Fate series.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

...

_As the darkness of the night fell upon Fuyuki City, a certain young boy was awoken from his sleep when he heard the faint sounds of a conversation held in the guest room.  
_

_He rubbed his eyes to slightly clear his vision, stood up, and proceeded to walk discreetly towards the guest room as to not let the speakers aware of his presence.  
_

_Then when he got close enough to fully hear them, one of them said to the other..._

_"Why are you interested in him?" said a voice the boy knew belonged to his father. "Those similar to you can only bring pain and suffering towards those who've caught their interest... and he... he's just a little boy. No older than six."_

_"At the present moment." was the rebuttal made by the voice that the boy recognized as well, "In time, he will grow to be a man. And at that time... he will face a trial not unlike the one you have faced before. And what I know for certain is that both of us would like him to be prepared when that inevitably happens."_

_"...What you said is preposterous." said the boy's father with a dangerous tone, "I've prepared some counter measures so that what happened in that accursed place will not occur again. And now you're implying that it will happen in his lifetime?"_

_"It will happen, much sooner than you might've expected." said the other speaker, "All your preparations, all your best-laid plans, despite how crazily elaborate they are, are naught. ...And it should've been something you have acknowledged and accepted by now."  
_

_"...Are you saying that I'm a fool?" his father asked, anger apparent in his voice now, "Are you saying that I am a worthless idiot who cannot even fulfill my dream? That everything that has happened in my life is because I planned them out without leaving any single detail unchecked?" he asked the other speaker._

_ "I fought with my last breath and have prepared everything I could so that I could save them. Save everyone. To bring peace into the world. And in the end, it was all worthless because of that accursed artifact! Everything that I have set up, Everyone that has sacrificed themselves for that despicable thing, they were all for nothing!"  
_

_The boy heard the sound of the table being pounded once, and he flinched, because he knew that it was his father who did so._

_"...And you could've been there." his father said after a few moments of silence, his voice was much quieter and much more morose, "You could've saved them all, you have the power to do so. Why didn't you arrive earlier?"_

_"...As much as it pains me to say this... even someone like me have some rules to follow... and one of them dictates that I couldn't interfere until one single point of event happened... and that event turned out to be the cataclysm that consumed the lives of hundreds of innocents." the other speaker said with regret, "If I knew then what I know now... perhaps things would've been a lot different."_

_Then came the short but tense moment of silence, and after a while, the boy heard his father sighing, "...I suppose there is no point in placing blames in the wrong places."_

_"...True." the other speaker conceded, "But Kiritsugu... what I said before... about how your plans and sacrifices always fail to fulfill your desire to save everyone, which is the reason why you made them in the first place..." he began, "There's more to it than that... it was not a callous jest on my part. There are some truths to that."_

_"...What do you mean?" his father asked with the same dangerous tone, the tone of voice that he had never heard from his father before._

_"Your Origin." the other speaker said, "Kiri(Sever) and Tsugu(Bind). The intertwined Origins that allowed you to make a lethal weapon that is a bane for any magus across the world."_

_"...What of them?" his father asked curiously._

_"You know about Origin, yeah? About how they would dictate you for the rest of your life? About how it is the original data from the Root that defines you, even before the point of maturity?" he asked rhetorically, "When you were a kid, Kiritsugu, did you ever notice that whenever you want to craft an intricate mechanism or fix a problem in delicate and complex machinery, you would find it hard to do compared to the simpler ones? Even to the point where the object that you want to fix would be even more broken than before?"_

_There was a moment of silence before his father asked again, "...What are you getting at?"_

_"The world is like an intricate and delicate clockwork." the other speaker said, "Everything is connected, it is not as simple as to just eliminate the defective factors to fix a problem, but also to augment the working ones so that they will not defect in the future. One large problem is connected to smaller, nearly invisible ones. And it is anything... but simple."  
_

_There was a long moment of silence before he heard his father saying... "...I never really had a chance, did I?"_

_"No. I regret to say that you never really had one to begin with." the other speaker said, "But still, you tried hard to break out of what was unfairly dictated for you, and that's what matters, isn't it?"_

_"...At the cost of so many others...?" his father asked.  
_

_"Kiritsugu. Though your ideals were less than benevolent... and it _was_ slightly childish... the fact that you fight to the end to withhold it speaks a lot about your character." the other speaker said, "Only a few people could do what you have done, and they-"  
_

_"-are happier because of it." his father rebutted._

_Then came another moment of silence before the other speaker said; "...Yes. They're happier because of it. But there are some of them who are gleefully drowning in that blissful, ignorant happiness because of what you had thrown away for them, for the sake of those that you don't even know." _

_Then there was another moment of silence before the other speaker said; "Do not forget all that you have sacrificed for the safety of the innocents in this world, be it the necessary casualties or the possibility of you living your life in painless bliss, unburdened by your ideals. _

_Do not wallow yourself in regrets, Kiritsugu. The past is the past. What you can do now is to let me prevent Shirou from walking the exact same path that you walk. Let me prevent him from experiencing the despair that has swallowed you for these past few years... And it's time for you to let the future be decided by the ones responsible for them."_

_"...You're right." Shirou's father said before sighing, "I guess... that's all that I can do now... I just wish that he doesn't have to experience the exact same things that happened to me."_

_"He won't. Trust me on that."_

_..._

* * *

...

Waking up from his dream about his father and his former mentor to the feeling of a warm body right in front of him within a dimly lighted room as the sun hasn't risen just yet, Shirou Emiya found the form of Saber, the Servant of the Sword, his Servant for the Fifth Holy Grail War, sleeping contently on his arms.

He smiled as he remembered what happened last night, how Saber was confronted with a nightmare and woke up screaming, and how he woke up from his own dream as well because of it.

It was a dream that was made due to the link that was established between him and her...

...

_He dreamed of a sword, blue, gold, and silver were the colors that adorned it, and it was embedded on the familiar red desert which he inhabited. Shirou could easily tell, due to his innate grasp and knowledge of his Origin, that the sword was something made by entities beyond human comprehension, entities that were not truly of this world, yet existed._

_A holy sword, one created to give hope to those who gazed upon its form and capable of cleansing any wickedness from one's heart by its mere sight. A sword made in the blueprint of its archetype, the holy sword that choose only the worthy ones to wield it.  
_

_And Shirou knew immediately who the blade belonged to... And why she was willing to go to such length to hide it._

_For it was the sword that made her legend known across the world and eras..._

_Excalibur. The sword that could only belong to the Once and Future King of Britain, King Arthur.  
_

...

Though he had a suspicion that her identity lied upon the invisible sword's true form, he would've never expected her to be the legendary king of Britain if he hadn't seen her sword. He first suspected that her identity was Jeanne d'Arc, the folk hero of France who was known for her participation in the Hundred Years' War that freed the city of Orleans.

He chuckled slightly at his mistake, to think that she mistook the great King Arthur of Britain for the Maid of Orleans from France... he knew that his mentor would've laughed at and with him as well. But still, considering that she's a woman, one would think of old heroines of the past instead of looking for legendary heroes whose gender might have been mistaken as a man.

...And apparently, one more of them being Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk. Similar to Arthur, Gilgamesh had also been a woman, 'But perhaps time twisted her legends to say that she was a man...' Shirou thought, 'Just like Arthur's... or was it deliberate on her part...?'

He sighed and shook his head to clear the thoughts away, opting to find out about it later. He then stood up, pausing for a moment to see whether Saber would be awake in his absence, and when he found that she was still sleeping with a rather content expression on her face, he began to walk out of the bedroom to start his day.

Because despite knowing that he was in a deadly competition amongst magus and heroes, his daily schedule must not be interrupted at any cost.

Not even because of the fact that there's an artifact within himself that reacted to Saber's presence, augmented its ability to its maximum point and would allow him to shrug off any mortal wounds.

At that one, he merely smiled satisfactorily. Already knowing the reason why it reacted that way thanks to that dream.

...

* * *

...

A pair of green-colored eyes opened, refreshed by the peaceful slumber that gave her no dreams.

And the first thing that she felt was the lack of a warm body nestling behind her... the same warm body that brought her the peaceful sleep that she would like to have at least once more.

She then began to lift herself up to a sitting position, and the first thing he noticed was that her Master was not in the same room as hers. She had an assumption that he had woken up before herself and resumed his schedule for the day. After all, it was not that far-fetched to think that he would still act like he's not involved in a war.

She sighed, not only because of her Master's indifference towards the war, but to herself as well, for getting caught up in his tempo without even trying to fight it. The way that he managed to make her sleep so blissfully was not something that she expected.

She liked it. Even though she's reluctant to admit it, she liked the feeling of being held close by him... Even when she wasn't supposed to.

She huffed out a frustrated breath as she felt her cheeks flushed at remembering how it felt, 'This is not the way that I should behave...' she mentally chided herself before she stood up, feeling refreshed by the morning light that seeped from the windows of her Master's bedroom.

Saber then began to walk towards the kitchen, already expecting him to make some breakfast.

Only to find the kitchen empty, 'Hm... where is he...?' she wondered, and one of the things that made her curious about where he currently was, was the fact that she's feeling rather famished.

She still remembered the taste of last night's dinner, it was quite heavenly, the juicy steak with the well-baked potatoes served with melting butter... Ah, even remembering it made her drool slightly.

...And then she swiftly wiped them when she felt her saliva trailing down from her lips.

Noticing that she was still dressed in the same clothes, she decided to find something else to wear, after spending a moment in the kitchen, she then returned to Shirou's room in order to find something else that she could wear for the day and clean the current one.

But there was something that she didn't expect when she opened the sliding doors leading to his room...

"Oh. Saber."

Which was the form of a shirtless Shirou, who was only wearing a pair of brown slacks, a part of his school uniform, she also saw that he is still rather glistened with water, apparently he had just finished his morning bath.

And due to him being shirtless, she saw his upper body in all its glory, his well-toned muscles that made his chest, shoulders, and his abdomen stood out quite well, he had quite a fit body for a teenager of his age, and she had a passing thought that it was because he had been following a rather tight exercise regiment.

"O-oh...!" she exclaimed with a higher tone of voice, unintended on her part, and an indication that she was caught by surprise, one of the factors was that she didn't really expect his sudden presence in his room, and the other was the state of his body, which was... quite impressive to say the least.

And considering that she had lived in an era where even a simple soldier must have a decent physique at the very least. And the most powerful of her knights had very well-toned muscles, a product of their extensive training regiment that they did and the battles that they have fought.

His body was the same, she could see that it was not made out of a desire to make himself look more fit to perhaps woo someone... They were made out of combat experience. Perhaps not a combat in terms of a fight to the death with an enemy... But a deadly fight nonetheless.

But yet... despite the fact that it was not the first time she saw such a well-toned man, she found her cheeks hot, reddened by the heat that crept up to her cheeks. What's happening to her...?

"I-I apologize Shirou...! I did not know you were here." she unwittingly yelled, rather flustered by reasons yet unknown to her.

In response, Shirou merely smiled, "It's alright." he said as he then wore his long-sleeved white shirt, "So... am I interrupting something?" he asked her.

"...Um, no, not at all. I was just wondering if..." she said after she composed herself, "If you have any other clothing that I could use." she said.

He then hummed as he said; "Hm... I think that's the only clothing here that could fit you... But I could be wrong, I'll check some of the stuff that Fuji-nee used to wear that she stored here, maybe I could find something that fits."

"Oh. Well, that is fine." she said, "I shall take a bath then Shirou, have a... have a nice day." she then swiftly turned away and closed the door...

And she let out a sigh of relief after she got out of the room, she found herself breathing heavily and berated herself for behaving so awkwardly in front of him, 'What is the matter with me?' she wondered inwardly as she began to make her way towards the bathroom to clean herself.

...

* * *

...

After he had been clothed, Shirou immediately went towards the kitchen to prepare some breakfast.

As he was preparing them, his mind instantly went to something that he should've thought of when he decided to let Saber sleep in his room, or when he was preparing her bed, or when he was taking a bath...

He then sighed not long after the thought came to his head. He mentally reminded himself that he had to make sure his kouhai and his guardian allow Saber to stay, or at the very least acknowledge her as someone who could be trusted to stay here.

'With Fuji-nee, I could just offer an explanation about how she's a relative or a friend of my father... she could be observant when she wants to, but even she doesn't know a lot about who dad was... much less about his relatives or his friends.' he thought.

When Shirou was little, he always saw the young tiger acting quite... differently in front of his father. With him, she had always played the part of a big sister, a really _childish_ big sister who always teased him to no end. But to his father, she acted like someone who had a crush. He knew that Taiga had an eye for his father, but he also knew that even though his father had noticed, he did not reciprocate her feelings.

Due to that fact, he didn't like the notion of paying back his guardian's teases by teasing her about her feelings to his father, it's enough that his father didn't like her that way, he didn't need to throw salt into the wound, considering that she also noticed his indifference towards her feelings.

But despite knowing that, she didn't relent and back away, she stayed by his side until his death. And afterwards, just like she had been doing before, she took it upon herself to watch Shirou grow and observe and judge those whom he socialized with.

...Which is why her first impression on his former mentor wasn't as good as it could've been... And his demeanor didn't help matters either. But she came to trust him eventually, despite the fact that he never revealed what he was and what kind of training that he had given to Shirou.

...Kind of similar to how she trusted his father despite her lack of knowledge about his status as a magus.

Moving on to the other person who might have some issue with Saber, he found himself thinking of his kouhai, Sakura Matou.

She's... not a person who could easily trust someone. He noticed that she's cordial most of the time, but there's a difference in how she treated him and Taiga compared to how she treated... let's say Mitsuzuri Ayako, the captain of the Archery club that he used to be a member of and the same club that Sakura had been a part of ever since she entered high school.

Sakura treated Mitsuzuri like she would treat a friend, cordial, friendly, but yet not truly intimate. But to him, he noticed that she craved some sort of intimacy with him, her body language practically yelled this, but he also noticed that she's restricting herself for some reason.

Though he didn't know what made her that way, it was the reason why he assumed she won't take Saber's presence quite well. But he hoped that he could persuade her somehow.

...But still, there was something that bugged him. Which was the fact that he didn't know the reason why she seemed to try and distance herself from him but yet wanting to be close to him at the same time... For years now he had noticed the mask that she had always been wearing, he could see glimpses of her true self beneath her mask whenever she's around him. And it made him curious as to why she was so introverted.

Though he was aware of the saying 'The curiosity killed the cat', he couldn't help himself. He would like to know her better, to see whatever secrets that she had been vehemently hiding and help her however he can. After all, they have been more than just good friends for years now, and he found himself willing to do anything for her sake.

It's in his nature to do so, to help someone however he can, even if it would take his life by doing so.

After he finished making up his mind and preparing the breakfast for four, -and also making some extra servings for Saber-, he heard the sound of the bell being rung and...

"SHIROOOU! GOOD MORNIIING! WE'RE HEEERE!"

He sighed at the familiar yell of a certain tigress and the presence of another, which he assumed as Sakura. He placed the plates on the table in the dining room and walked towards the door.

'Alright, time to break the news to them.'

...

* * *

...

The Servant of the Sword sighed as she got out of the bathroom, the bath was pretty soothing, it helped her ease the tension that she had felt from seeing Shirou in the middle of changing his outfit.

...She had been berating herself for that, it was not the proper way for her to behave, she said to herself, and after a few minutes of self-convincing as she lied in the bathtub soaked in comforting warm water, she managed to calm herself.

She then walked towards the door leading to Shirou's room and opened it once more, and this time, she found that there was a set of new clothing for her to wear, folded up neatly and placed on top of the folded futon.

It was a plain, white-colored button-up blouse and a dark blue long skirt to complete it, a set of clothing that must've belonged to the Taiga woman that he had spoken of.

Saber then wore the outfit, and much to her surprise, they fit quite well, not too tight, not too loose, and not too big or small either. Just perfect. She nodded satisfactorily and began to make her way to the kitchen when she heard a woman shouting from the entrance.

She swiftly opened the door and exited the room, and she saw Shirou making his way towards the entrance when she turned her head towards it.

Before he reached the door, he saw and turned towards Saber, walked closer to her and said; "Alright, um... there are two people in the entrance, they are my guardian and my underclassman. They always spend their time to visit me in the morning before going to school, so they're not enemies. Besides, an enemy magus would never declare their presence before attacking anyway." he reasoned.

She blinked once before she nodded, "Very well, I shall not attack them, Shirou." she said, understanding the implication of what he just said.

"Good. But there's something else..." he continued, "In this day and age, especially here in Japan, a man living with a woman close to or of their age without familial or marital bond is considered improper, I myself have no problem with this arrangement since I know that there's an appropriate context attached, but my guardian and my underclassman, they..." he then scratched the back of his neck, "They don't know that I'm a magus, and therefore, they don't know that I'm participating in the Holy Grail War. And this status quo must be maintained."

"...Then what are you proposing, Shirou?" asked Saber, already knowing that they have to make a lie to cover up the war from the innocents.

"I will say to them that you are my father's distant relative from overseas, perhaps from Britain."

Though the way he said Britain sounded a bit like a hasty addition, Saber couldn't help but flinch at the mention of her country, but it seems that he hadn't noticed, so he continued; "I'll say to them that you're here to check for my well-being due to recent information about my father's adoption of me. Now, Taiga-nee and Sakura might get a bit suspicious at that information, but I'll say that my father had always been a reclusive man and that I too just knew about this information. I'm sure that they'll accept you, don't you worry."

After a moment, she nodded slightly and said; "Very well Shirou, then by what name shall I be called?" she asked of him.

Before Shirou could answer, the voice of the yelling tiger called out to him once again, "SHIIROOU! HAVE YOU WOKEN UP YET?"

He sighed before he turned and shouted; "Yes! I'll be there in a few minutes Taiga-nee!" he then turned to Saber once more and said; "I'll go and open the door, I've prepared some food in the dining room, feel free to take a few for breakfast but don't eat them all. Taiga-nee and Sakura usually come here to eat breakfast with me so some of the extra servings are reserved for them. So when you finished your first serving, don't eat more until I come by again, okay?"

Saber nodded once, "As you wish Shirou." though she is a bit miffed when he mentioned to not instantly take an extra serving.

Then he walked towards the entrance as Saber walked to the dining room, before she entered, she managed to get a glimpse of who he's greeting, a woman with short brown hair and a bright smile, wearing a long-sleeved striped yellow shirt beneath a green summer dress and a younger woman with purple hair and eyes whose smile seemed rather...

Saber's eyes narrowed, the younger woman seems rather... dark, though there was no apparent malice reeking out from her, it's clear to her that there's something that she was hiding.

But before she could think further, the smell of the delicacy that Shirou had made struck her nose...

And she swiftly sat on one of the chair to get herself some breakfast.

...

* * *

...

"Why did took you so long to open the door Shirou?" asked Taiga with narrowed eyes, "Are you hiding something from us?"

"Of course not." Shirou said, "I would never do that unless the circumstances calls it, I've told you that before right?" he rhetorically asked.

"...So you _are _hiding something from us." Taiga said, understanding what he's implying.

He merely smiled and said; "Why don't you and Sakura come in? I already prepared breakfast for you two."

"What?" asked Sakura, "But... I was going to help you Senpai..." she said solemnly.

Shirou turned to Sakura, patted her shoulder once and said; "Thanks for your consideration Sakura. But you see, yesterday night, I had a guest that requested to stay for the time being, so as the owner of the house, I have to be a good host and make some breakfast for her the first thing in the morning."

"Eh? A guest?" said Sakura.

"...She?!" yelled Taiga.

Shirou nodded as he turned to Taiga, "Yes, she. She's now in the dining room eating her share of breakfast if you want to go and see her. Bu-"

Taiga immediately went past Shirou and made her way towards the dining room with so much gusto, she clearly wants to see the woman that has spent the night in Shirou's house.

He turned to Sakura and said; "Well... this is a good start isn't it?"

Despite the sarcastic quip, he found that Sakura didn't smile or laugh, and his own smile faded, knowing that she has a problem with this as well, "The woman who's staying with me is my father's relative from Britain. She said that she only recently discovered that he adopted me due to some problem, and she had decided to stay for a couple of days to check whether or not I'm living well here."

Instantly, her expression changed, it went from sadness to understanding, "Oh. I-I see..." she said, it took another moment before she said; "W-what's her name?"

Before he could say anything further, they heard the sound of Taiga, _"Alright! Who are you and why are you in Shirou's house?!"_

He sighed and said to Sakura, "Come on Sakura, let's get Taiga-nee to calm down first."

...

* * *

...

Saber was caught by surprise when the brown-haired woman entered the dining room so suddenly and yelled at her with burning eyes. She was just finished with the first serving of the _delightfully _delicious breakfast and was about to wait for Shirou's approval to have another bowl, and instead of him, it was his guardian.

But she remembered what he had said, and so her reply was; "I'm Shirou's adoptive relative. And you are?"

"I'm Shirou's guardian." said Taiga without missing a beat, "How old are you?" she then asked after she evaluated Saber's appearance.

Already expecting that it would be the question, she immediately said, "Twenty-three." answered Saber, she wasn't lying, since it was her age when she led her men to war against her wayward son, "I apologize if my appearance might've deceived you."

Taiga then grumbled before she asked again, "And what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see how my... cousin's son is doing." Saber said, adding the cousin part on the fly, since Shirou didn't specify what would be the relation between her and his father, "Due to some miscommunication, I just recently know about the fact that he adopted a child, and I figured that I would visit him, seeing how he's doing. It's the least that I could do after so many years."

She saw Taiga's expression softened, a sign that she accepted the explanation, "Kiritsugu never told me that he had a relative from overseas..." she said.

"Yes. I'm from Britain." Saber answered, knowing that his guardian assumed that she's from overseas by her appearance. "Kiritsugu had always been a reclusive man, I'm not really surprised that he never told you that he had a family in England. And because of that, I'm not really surprised by the fact that he adopted a child, it's in his nature to not share things about himself if he considered it as something private."

...

After she said that, Saber realized the name of Shirou's father...

Kiritsugu. And Shirou's family name is Emiya, and that he's adopted... Kiritsugu Emiya, her Master in the Fourth Heaven's Feel is his father...?

"That sounds like him." Taiga said with a solemn smile.

Then they heard the sound of someone clearing his throat, and they turned and saw the figure of Shirou and Sakura, standing right outside the dining room, "So Taiga-nee, I see you have met Arturia."

Saber's eyes widened for a fraction of a second and her body tensed when she heard the name that he used to call her, but then the redhead continued; "Did she tell you the reason why she's here? I already told Sakura and I would've told you as well, but when I said that she was here you just went ahead and barged in without even asking anything."

Taiga then swiftly walked over to Shirou and stared at him with a serious glare, "We need to have a proper talk, Shirou." she said to him as she grabbed his arm and drags him.

But Shirou looked unfazed by the whole thing, and before he was fully out of Sakura and Saber's sight, he said to them; "Sakura, you can eat as many as you want, take Fuji-nee's share if you want, including you Arturia. Take as many as you like."

_That _little tidbit made Taiga stop, she slowly turned her head towards Shirou and said; "...Y-y-y-you wouldn't dare! You wouldn't dare give away my share!"

He then smirked towards Taiga and said; "Well, that did its job perfectly."

"Huh? What are-?" she then noticed that in that diversion, he managed to free his restrained arm and Taiga knew that she was beaten. She was only able to grab and drag Shirou because she caught him off-guard, now that he knows what she's going to do, she won't be able to force him again.

As much as she hates to admit it, the so-called mentor of his really did a good job. Shirou's combat finesse had drastically improved to the point where he could stand his ground against her in hand-to-hand combat.

Though his swordsmanship was also good, it was still nothing against her... At least she _thought_ he's not that good.

He then flashed a smile to his guardian and said; "Now is not the time for that talk Fuji-nee, now is the time for breakfast. And if you want to go to school with an empty stomach, then be my guest."

Taiga then grumbled under her breath as she walked towards the dining room, she then looked at Shirou one final time before saying; "You're not off the hook yet, Shirou."

"I know." was Shirou's response, he said that without missing a beat and losing his smile, "But for now, let's eat."

...

* * *

...

Moments later, Shirou found himself cleaning the dishes with Sakura as Taiga... Well, the tiger had decided to go to school early once again, apparently there's something about her repeated truancy being noticed by the principal and that she must be in school even earlier than normal until further notice.

Shirou had apologized, correctly assuming that it was partly his fault, due to Taiga enjoying his breakfast too much that she sometimes forgot about the time and causing her to be late.

But she had grinned and said this without hesitation and not to mention giving him a big thumbs up...

_"I have no regrets! If I have to choose between eating your breakfast and school, my heart will always choose the former! There's no way I can resist it!"_

Shirou had merely shook his head at her proclamation, she had always been the free-spirited one amongst the company that he had made for himself, it's an endearing quality that was quite difficult to find in anyone else.

But then, she just had to add this before leaving:

_"However! We shall have a serious talk Shirou, mark your onee-sama's words!"_

He sighed, knowing that he had to prepare some kind of excuse as to let Saber stay someday.

When he finally cleaned the last plate, he then wiped the water from his hands, and when he finished and Sakura did the same, he then said; "Alright, it's time to go. Let me check on Arturia first, I have to let her know about us leaving."

"Okay Sempai." Sakura said softly as he then turned and walked towards Saber, who was sitting on the guest room rather formally.

"Saber, I'll be going to school. In the mean time, you can stay and-"

She interrupted him when she stood up and declared; "I'll come with you." she said with absolute conviction, "Shirou, we are in the middle of a war. It is ridiculous to go outside by yourself, even with your powers."

Shirou sighed, already expecting Saber to act like this, "Saber, you can't. Unless you can turn into your astral form, coming to the school would be a bad idea. People will ask a lot of questions." he reasoned, "I can take care of myself. And if worse comes to worst, then I'll use this Command Seal to call you, okay?"

Though inwardly, he knew that to do so would be redundant, since he _knew _he could at least fight a Servant equally in the right condition. "And not to mention, the Holy Grail War is supposed to be a secret, yeah? So I would assume that no enemies would be stupid enough to attack during the day. The best thing that they could do is to abduct me with some kind of spell that could restrain me. And the odds of that happening are pretty low, I assure you."

Saber couldn't find a good rebuttal to his reasoning, he _was_ strong enough to fend for himself, not just against an enemy Master but against an enemy _Servant. _And he implied that he had a lot more up his sleeves to prevent the success of any strategy that the enemies might've concocted to kill him.

"Don't worry." he said again, "Saber, I'm not weak. I can take care of myself just fine."

She then cast her head down, and after a few seconds of silence, she reluctantly said, "...Very well."

Shirou smiled and patted her shoulder once, "Then I'll be going. Take good care of the house while I'm gone." he then began to walk towards the door, but he stopped abruptly and said; "Oh! And if you want some lunch, I already prepared them for you, whenever you're feeling hungry, just warm them in the microwave and wait until it rings before you eat it, okay?"

She looked up to him and nod, but as Shirou was about to open the door, she asked... "Shirou... why did you use that name to call me? Arturia, I mean?" she asked.

She must know. It was just too... freaky to be a mere coincidence... Did he already know about her true identity? And so quickly too? It wasn't even a day in the war yet, she didn't even get a chance to show her sword's true form yet and the dreams about her life that she's sure he had seen wasn't supposed to be so detailed that he could deduce her identity that fast.

As a response, the redhead turned to her with a smile and said; "Because it fits." he said as if stating a fact.

And then he swiftly went out of the room... And left Saber's mind in disarray.

He knows. By god, he knew who she was...

When she heard the sound of the entrance door being opened and closed at a short interval, she weakly knelt down, her body couldn't find the strength as she didn't expect her current Master to be so perceptive and insightful in addition to being very powerful for a human being.

She sighed and placed her palm on her forehead to forestall the feeling of an incoming headache, "I really have underestimated him so..." she lamented.

...

* * *

...

At roughly the same time, the mind of one Sakura Matou is also at a turmoil.

Her turmoil was due to the fact that there 's someone living at her Sempai's house. A young woman at that! She might've said that she's twenty-three years old, but with that look, doubt clouded the purple-haired girl's heart.

'What is she actually doing there?' she wondered as she's walking with her Sempai right besides her. 'And who is she, really? She felt... different somehow..."

She then began to contemplate about the blonde woman's presence, and how Sakura saw there's something that made her feel... off, something that seemed out-of-place about the blonde woman, what could it...

...Of course... how could she forget?

'She's a Servant.' she immediately realized, the feeling of power coming off from the blonde woman should've been familiar when she first met her, considering that she had known another one of the Seven. But yet she only realized it just now due to her being focused on spending her time with her Sempai instead of thinking anything else.

And with that single moment of realization, she instantly became afraid. She was quite informed about the Holy Grail War, and about the potential fate of those who participates in it.

Either you win, or you die. There's no middle ground, especially not when maguses are involved.

Her grandfather... the abomination who took on a human form to walk on this earth, was one of them. And through her, he had summoned a Servant to partake in this war, but yet, he did not order her to directly be involved, and instead, it was her brother, who no doubt wanted to prove to the old worm that he's the true heir of the Matou family by winning the Grail for him.

The worm gave her brother his wish, and her Servant was his to command while she could be kept within the safety of the Matou Residence...

...Safe... and tormented...

But the fear came because she's afraid of what would happen to her Sempai, she's afraid of the possibility of his death, the only one who can provide her with hope, hope that not all the things in life is seeking to torment her so.

...But then, her fear was lessened when she realized one fact.

Her Sempai is strong.

After all, she had seen how she was saved by him... through her then empty-looking eyes when she was but a little girl, she saw the ferocity and brutality of the beatings that he delivered to the boys who thought it was fitting to bully her out of whim.

And she had seen his eyes... eyes so determined... yet not filled with pleasure that should be apparent at someone whose methods of fighting was filled with the intent to kill, she had assumed that he saw it as a necessary measure, to ensure that they will never again attempt to hurt her.

And when he stopped, with his hands bloodied and his form standing amongst the writhing forms of the kids who had been given bruise marks all over their body, he turned to her...

And he looked at her with a gaze that seems to say... 'You are safe now. These people will not hurt you anymore.'

He had became her role model ever since... because despite the fact that what she had seen was the glimpse of the darkness that he holds within himself... he had used that to his advantage, to protect those who are helpless and inflict retribution to those who deserves it... And to direct it for his benefit instead of letting it consuming him thoroughly.

She wished that she could be as strong as he was, she wished that she could have as much willpower as he had, to be able to direct his darkness and take the risk to embrace it so that he could have enough power to defeat his enemies... And despite his own darkness, she could not have found a better, kinder man than he is.

She admired him, adored him... and every time spent with him by her side was her personal heaven...

...But she then realized, that no matter how strong a person is, they could not hope to fight a Servant. A Heroic Spirit empowered by their legends that could be hundreds or thousands of years old, a form of existence that's essentially made of power.

'Even if Sempai is a magus... he couldn't possibly defeat a Heroic Spirit... it's just impossible!'

Oh yes, the girl had known for quite a while that Shirou Emiya is a magus. The first clue was the weak Bounded Field placed on his house that acts as a warning for hostile intruders... and the other thing was the fact that she could...

She could _feel _his Magic Circuits...

When she had found out that his circuits was... different, she was shocked. She had thought that what she felt came from his soul, but upon closer inspection, the power came from his _physical _Magic Circuits.

How did it come to being, she's not exactly sure. But thanks to that, his status as a magus is not a secret to her. Though he didn't know that she knew. And it had hurt her somewhat when she realized that he had been keeping this as a secret from her.

But she had realized that magi were _supposed_ to be rather secretive, at least for some, to a certain degree... And considering what he had on his body...

...She had understood immediately that it just won't do to reveal it to her, considering that he also thought of her as this... normal, kind, and cheerful young woman who also happened to have her own darkness within herself.

And she knew that if her Sempai was hiding something from her, it must be because it was something that could endanger them if she knew of its existence, the prominent example being his Circuits. Considering that she thought of him as a non-magus, if he knew that she knew, he would've been forced to kill or hypnotize her to protect his secret.

...Knowing her Sempai quite well, however, she knew that he wouldn't be able to do that. ...No, he _won't _be able to do that. And so he kept it as a secret. So that she would be safe.

...But with her...?

She knew about his status as a magus. And therefore, she could tell him about her status as a magus as well. But she didn't.

Partly because of the darkness that she had been keeping within herself... and partly because she's afraid of what would her grandfather do if he knew about him...

The old worm always had plans... and if her Sempai found himself involved with her accursed family because of her... like a certain someone that she still feel guilty about because of his demise... she would never be able to forgive herself.

...But that was what she had always told herself.

Because at the core of it, she's afraid that if he knew about what the old worm had done to her for so many years... he wouldn't be able to see her in the same way that he does now.

So in essence, the core of her fear... the main reason why she's hiding her darkness from him was not out of necessity, but out of cowardice.

...Still, returning to the problem at hand... what could she do at this situation...? Knowing him, he's probably in it to end the ridiculous competition once and for all... After all, considering his personality, it wouldn't be a surprise if he considered the values that most maguses adhere to as something disgusting.

...For example... the permission... or dare she say it, the _encouragement_ to give a family's second child to another family line of magus just because they're afraid that their family inheritance wouldn't be able to be given to the eldest child without some problems.

Her eyes narrowed as she felt a darkness creeping and writhing in her chest, too many unpleasant memories... memories that fed her flaming hatred. Hatred of the so-called _family_ that had left her to some ambiguous old man to be 'taken care of'... Of the so-called _parents_ who saw no problem with the notion of giving her away, separating their own flesh and blood for the sake of their own convenience.

Oh how she hates them... how she wish that she could give them a piece of her mind... and how she wish she could raise them from the grave so that she could do so...

_**How she wished she could give them the same amount of agony that she had to endure for so many years thanks to them...**_

...

'...No no no...! Go away! Go away!' she thought as she closed her eyes tightly and shook her head profusely.

"Sakura?"

Hearing the sound of her concerned Sempai, she turned towards the redhead with wide eyes; "Eh? Y-yes?"

"You've been acting weird... is something wrong?" he asked as his amber eyes seemed to bore into her very soul.

...Had she been too focused with her own mind that she didn't notice him looking at her? Sakura managed to break the silence by saying; "I-I'm okay Sempai. I've been thinking of stuff, that's all. No need to worry."

She could see that he didn't really buy it, but he relented and let the further questions on his mind left unspoken, "Very well." he said instead.

A couple of minutes that they spent afterwards was filled with silence, not too comfortable to be called awkward, but yet not pleasing enough to be called comfortable. As it was clear that both of them had something they wanted to say to each other.

Fortunately for Sakura, they arrived in front of their school not long afterwards, and with that, she decided to part ways with her Sempai to get herself straightened out, "W-well, I'll see you after school, Sempai." she said before she began to walk away from the redhead and towards the school.

But before she got too far, Shirou said; "Sakura."

She turned at his call and said; "Yes?" she said.

"...I know you're not convinced about my explanation about Arturia." he suddenly said.

Her eyes widened, how did he know? She was supposed to be able to hide her emotions well, how could he-? Had he always been this perceptive? "W-what do you mean, Sempai?"

He sighed as he ruffled his hair, "Look, I will tell you everything someday, okay? All I can say is that I'm in the middle of something dangerous... and that I'm hoping to stop it."

'...He's talking about the Holy Grail War...' Sakura thought, but she couldn't say it out loud, "W-what? What kind of dangerous thing, Sempai?" she asked him, genuinely worried though not genuinely confused, as she knew what he's talking about.

He walked closer to her, tapped her on her shoulder, which made her blush slightly, and said; "Something that could put you and Fuji-nee in danger. I... (sigh)... I'm sorry that I can't reveal it to you yet... but someday. Someday, I will... but even though you don't know now... can you trust me to keep you safe?"

There was no hesitation in her answer, "Of course, Sempai." she said.

It made him smile, "Good. Then I will keep you safe Sakura. With all my power."

...At that moment... she wished that time would stop, that the whole world would be still and let her enjoy the sight of her idol smiling at her and telling her that he will protect her from harm with all his might as long as she could...

But it was not to be, as the sound of the school's bell brought her out of the reverie and made Shirou say; "That's our cue." then he parted ways by saying; "See you later Sakura!" he said with a wave as he ran to his class.

She could only weakly lift her hand and waved it slightly, "...See you later Sempai..." she said with a low volume as she gave a longing stare towards Shirou's retreating form.

...

* * *

...

_Some unspecified minutes later..._

Tohsaka Rin was _not_ in a very good mood...

Last night, when she came back home, she immediately realized about the folly of making Shirou Emiya her enemy.

As even though he had said that he won't view her an enemy like she's doing, he did not say that he won't retaliate if she made the first move...

Now now, let it be known that Tohsaka Rin will not shy away from a challenge. Oh no, not a chance in hell...

...But facing someone who could defeat the Berserker, -a maddened Herakles, no less-, by having the ability to call upon weapons that could defeat a Servant _did _make her hesitate a little bit.

'I _could _surprise him and give myself an advantage by doing so...' she thought as she sat upon her seat in her classroom, barely paying attention to the teacher in front of the class, 'But then again, the element of surprise still belongs to him... after all, who knows how many weapons that he has in his arsenal?'

It was moments after she had gotten inside her house and locked the door that this simple thought came to her head...

-You just declared a battle to a barely known magus who has a powerful spell in his reservoir combined with having a hefty amount of _physical_ Magic Circuits. You already have some clues about the extent of his abilities but you don't know him that well to make a proper assessment. And you don't know if he has other abilities besides his -astronomically- advanced Gradation Air which he called Tracing. And, last but not least, he could defeat a Servant with relative ease.-

-How could you even _hope _to win a battle against him?-

Needless to say, she kind of regretted her decision, as rashly made as it had been, it was a decision that could not be taken back.

...That decision had _not _been made out of spite of course. _Especially_ not because of the way that the blonde Archer kissed him.

After all, he could kiss anyone he wants! It's not her damn business, go on ahead! Be it his Saber, that insane Archer, or even that little Einzbern girl! He could kiss them _all_ if he so desire! In fact, that would be just perfect! A goddamn harem! Perfect! What kind of guy wouldn't _want_ something like that?!

...

...But still... Returning to the problem at hand and letting her expression returned to its usual graceful self, she reminded herself that she's of Tohsaka family, so she _must_ face this with her head held high. Like what her father would do.

And so, she made a plan, it was not perfect, but she hoped that it was enough to give her an advantage over him...

...

But firstly, there's something else that she must do before challenging the redheaded magus...

Which was to find out the mysterious pair of Master and Servant that has placed a malignant Bounded Field on the school... a Bounded Field designed to forcefully convert living things to Mana so that it could be consumed by the Servant.

A crude and cruel method to sustain a Servant... the very thing that made Rin assume that the Master was rather inept. Just like the one that had been consuming people's lifeforce by attacking them at night... It's also possible that both of the perpetrators are actually one Servant...

But, that begs the question; what would the Servant's class be...? Caster, most likely. Considering the class' skill of Territory Creation, it wasn't that outlandish to assume that this is the work of a particularly malevolent Caster who cares not for the good of the others who do not participates in the Holy Grail War...

She sighed as she looked towards the view outside her classroom, 'I guess I'll find out during lunch break...'

...

* * *

...

_Hours later..._

"Hm..." hummed one Tohsaka Rin as she examined the crude markings that was made in the middle of the rooftop. A sign that it was the pinpoint of the Bounded Field that was made by a Servant. "This is the source... the Servant who caused this place this here as the center of the Bounded Field... but why in the open?" she wondered.

_"It's a decoy."_ answered Archer, who is still in his astral form, his voice audible only to Rin. _"If I have to make a deduction, the Bounded Field's source is not this one. A clever Servant would've placed several of these decoys on several places to distract those who would try and dismantle it."_

"In other words, this is not the one that we're looking for..." Rin said, "There's no way that this is the correct one, considering that it was too out in the open."

Archer merely smirked, _"It seems we're facing a savvy yet malicious enemy... divert our attention elsewhere while he prepares the real thing in the last place we would look. Interesting..."_

"...You're enjoying this." said Rin to Archer as if stating a fact.

_"I guess I am."_ he said, mimicking what he said to Lancer just yesterday.

Archer's behavior, while somewhat beneficial to their chance of winning, makes Rin wonder about his legend even more. She never knew an Archer who fights with swords before, nor had she ever seen a Heroic Spirit that wouldn't say his class to his enemy. As apparent when he fought Lancer, who assumed that he was Saber, and did nothing to correct the spearman.

It made her think that Archer was not really bound by a code of ethics or honor, that he's someone who would do anything to win a fight, even if it meant lying and cheating along the way to do so.

...Not a really heroic trait, if she had to judge him herself.

But still, he got the job done, and she couldn't complain about that certain fact. If only his wound that was made by Saber could heal faster...

The raven-haired girl sighed as she turned away from the marking, "Let's go Archer. The lunch break's almost over." she said.

But as Rin began to walk towards the door, she was caught by surprise when it was opened...

And found that the redhead magus had entered the rooftop, all alone by himself. He looked at her and raised his eyebrows in apparent surprise, "Tohsaka." he said before he then turned his head slightly to look at the markings behind her and frowned, "...Were you the one who set up that Bounded Field?" he asked with a low tone of voice, as if threatening her.

'...Hm, so he's here to investigate this as well huh? Well, I better set things straight.' she thought to herself, "No, I was not. I'm here to check on the markings... and I'm sure that's what you're here for as well."

His expression softened at hearing that before he said; "Yeah. I felt the sickening feeling. And I came here because this was the place where the scent is strong enough."

...Wait, what? "The scent?" she asked.

Shirou then answered; "My way to detect magecraft is by the smell of it." then he sniffed the air around him before saying; "And this one smells like... blood... and reptile... (sniff), snake to be exact."

'...Well, that's certainly useful... yet another thing that could give him an advantage...' she thought to herself, "Snake you say...? Hm, it might be a useful information." she quipped. But then, she noticed something else, which is the lack of another presence that should be beside him, "Emiya-kun, where's Saber? ...Don't tell me that you didn't even bring her here."

He looked at Tohsaka and said; "She can't astralize herself. If she comes here without any reasonable explanation and/or an appropriate attire, she would stand out too much, so I left her at my house."

...Had he were another magus, she would've balked at his stupidity, but considering that it's him... she could only sigh and rubbed her forehead, "You know Emiya-kun, I should be reprimanding you for such foolishness, considering the situation that you're in... but seeing that it's you... I guess it would be redundant." she said despondently.

Shirou merely smirked and said; "I'm not really a normal magus, now am I?" he asked rhetorically.

At that, she merely shook her head again and sigh, she was about to just go past him wordlessly and into the school's interior before she felt it.

Archer, using his Independent Action skill, had just materialized himself, rendering him visible to Shirou.

She turned towards the tan-skinned Servant... and she saw him staring at Shirou with so much hatred in his eyes. She turned to Shirou... and she saw that his eyes were also narrowed, showing his hatred towards the white-haired Servant as well.

Rin could only look between the two men back and forth as the situation becomes tenser and tenser by the second, 'There's something's amiss here... they haven't met yet, right? So why are they staring at each other with so much animosity?' she wondered. And as seconds feels like minutes to her due to being in the middle of what seemed to be a pair of archenemies facing each other for the first time, Rin thought that the two of them would come to blows soon enough.

But then Shirou broke the tense silence first, "...What is your class, Servant?" he said through gritted teeth.

Archer was silent for a moment, and his scowl became even more prominent, he then said; "...Archer." he said with so much venom laced in his tone of voice.

After another tense moment where Rin thought that they would've charged at each other, Shirou became the first to relent and walk back into the school's interior without spending another word towards her or Archer.

When he closed the door, Rin turned to Archer, "Alright, what was that about?" she asked.

Archer looked at her, but he did not answer, and before she could ask him again, he turned away from her and disappear as he astralized himself and out of Rin's sight.

"Wait a-!" she attempted to stop him, but failed. And she gritted her teeth in frustration. Her Servant was being too mysterious for his own good. He never spoke his mind unless it's about the War, and though he always do everything that she asked him to, -up to, and including mundane tasks such as cleaning the household-, she had a feeling that if it comes to something that would hinder his own goal... he wouldn't hesitate to betray her.

After all, if he's willing to lie and cheat to win... betrayal is not quite far behind...

And what she saw in that dream...

...

_He stands alone... on the desolate hill... riddled with _-_-_o_-_-_s..._

_Standing with utmost vigilance... for the sake of his broken, borrowed, and hypocritical ideal..._

_Here he shall stand... Until the very bitter end..._

_For the sake of his ideals... For the sake of those whom he doesn't even know..._

_Until his end... Until death..._

_..._

Rin knew then and there... that Archer is a broken man. The desolation that she felt through their bond, even just by the shared dream, was enough for her to realize it.

A broken man who saw no problem with doing dubious methods if it meant that he could achieve his goal. A man who had already been torn apart by his own ideals, a twisted, _distorted _man... An existence that could only slightly be called as human.

A tragic hero.

...But, she had a suspicion that his legend does not come from the past. No matter how impossible it may seem... the Archer of Fifth Heaven's Feel, her Servant... is a hero not from time long past...

But from a time that has yet to come...

She shook her head, she didn't not need to ponder the implication of such a Servant for now... Because at the present moment, he's still bound to her, and that's all that matters... Because she needed to do something about Shirou Emiya.

The redhead magus was a hindrance to her chance of victory. But if she played her cards right, maybe she could get an advantage over him...

...

...Oh, who was she kidding? She would be lucky if she managed to get out of the fight alive and unscathed...

But still, she's Rin of the Tohsaka family... she must not back away from a challenge.

...

* * *

...

_"Your Majesty."_

_She turned her head slightly towards the squire kneeling behind her, and said; "...What is it?"  
_

_The squire seemed to flinch, but then he said to her; "It is time, Your Majesty. The people are expecting this day."  
_

_She then turned her head as to not look at the squire, and after a few moments of silence in which she appeared to be contemplating, she said to him; "Inform the masses and my knights, then bring them all to the courtyard at noon. Along with the traitor."  
_

_"Yes Your Majesty."_

'...What is this...? Where am I...? Is this... is this Britain?'

_She walked with an unflinching gait towards the castle's massive courtyard, surrounded by many people, nobles, smallfolks, all of them converged to see the kneeling man that she saw in front of her, a man with dark-purple colored hair wearing a set of armor tinted black, he gazed upon her form without any other emotion than acceptance._

'...Lancelot?'

_"...My King..." he said with a weary voice as he bowed his head._

_She didn't say anything for a few seconds... but then she summoned her sword... Excalibur, and its form was apparent for the spectators surrounding them to see, and its presence awed them._

_But not **her.  
**_

'...No... What am I...? What am I doing?'

_"Lancelot... for the crimes of dalliancing with the Queen... and the murder of your fellow Knights... you are no longer considered as one of the Knights of the Round Table nor a citizen of Britain... and today... you are hereby sentenced... to death."_

_And so the crowd roared in appreciation. But she remained silent..._

'NO!'

_'What say you in your defense?'_

_'...None, Your Majesty. I shall accept your punishment.'  
_

'NO! LANCELOT!'

_She positioned herself to stand beside the kneeling knight... and then she raised the holy sword up towards the sky, her expression remained as stoic as it has ever been... and when she turned to look at her friend's living, breathing form for the last time..._

_She saw Lancelot... closing his eyes... and smiling to himself... as if wholeheartedly accepting his fate..._

_Then, she brought the sword down remorselessly..._

_And with the squelching sound of flesh being forcefully cut, and the thudding noise of a beheaded person's head falling towards the ground... Lancelot's life was taken from him..._

_And so the crowd roared appreciatively once more... but amidst the euphoria, the only things that the King could see was the sight of the detached head of her once most trusted knight... who had betrayed her in return of her trust. The expression on his disembodied head was still as calm as she had seen him before she executed him.  
_

_And the other thing that she could only see... was the sight of the **bloodied **__holy blade... tainted by the blood of a man whose death was demanded by the people for his betrayal..._

_To which... the King must provide..._

_For the sake of the country._

...

Saber woke up from her impromptu sleep with a gasp, away from the nightmare, but yet was not fully out of its grasp on her mind.

It was late in the afternoon, Saber had just finished her lunch, and she was about to go to the guest room to wait for Shirou. But as soon as she sat, her sight became fuzzy, and before long, she had fallen asleep. And in doing so...

She saw a nightmare... of something that didn't happen... but yet _could've_ occurred...

The blonde woman found herself drenched in cold sweat, her breathing ragged as she tried to calm herself 'That was... no, that was... that never happened! Lancelot was never executed! Least of all by...' she then placed her hand right above her left chest to calm her erratically beating heart.

"...By me..."

_For the sake of the country, she murdered her friend. One of her most trusted knights who had been with her ever since the beginning..._

_And she executed him without mercy._

Saber knew immediately that it was something that could've happened to herself. Lancelot's dalliance with the Queen, Guinevere, had been known by her people... and when she managed to escape because of Lancelot murdering his fellow knights in a fit of madness, the people had demanded that the knight be executed for his crime... but she didn't do it, and instead, she merely stripped him off of his title and gave no other punishment.

What she had seen could've easily happened had she chose to follow her ideal thoroughly...

She could see that it would've corrupted her, tainted her, and...

Her eyes widened as she remembered the dream that she had just the day before...

'These nightmares... they're... they're...' she then spoke with a tone of grim realization... "They're visions... about the possibility of what I could've become..."

And despite not knowing how exactly these visions came to her, there is one thing that she is absolutely certain...

She did not like what she had seen. No... not one tiny bit.

As she was sitting down, she began to close her eyes. And solemnly, she began to wonder about things... some things that had been said by a certain King similar, but unlike herself...

He had told her about the real duty of a king... how wrong she was to live the way she had been living... and how wrong she was to think of erasing what she saw as her failure...

Would things be different if she had been more sincere and shared to the others about the ideal that she had lived by? Had she known and practiced the King of Conqueror's way of leading in her lifetime, would she be able to prevent Britain's fall? Would things be different if she had accepted that there was nothing that she could do at that hill where she was defeated by her 'son' and just move on...?

In fact, compared to the King of Conqueror's great empire that separated itself into three when he died, Britain's fall due to internal struggle seemed like a small problem. And yet the Conqueror did not hold any regrets, and he wouldn't even _think_ about going back to change things.

Because his legend is what defined him. It was the thing that made him welcomed into the Throne of Heroes. And his legend wasn't created solely by him, it was also made by his armies, those who stayed loyal to him even through death...

And to change his own past would be an affront to those who had went to battle for him, the same people who died for his sake, for his dream. He was their great King, the exemplary by which they must live to strive towards, and if they cannot reach the ground he stood upon, they will gladly follow him wherever he goes.

To war. To glory. To ruin. To **death**.

...And what does that say about her? About the King who cannot be understood by her own people? About the King who zealously followed her own childish ideals, and yet not able to share it with the others?

About the King who sought to stand alone, thinking that she will do best like so, for none is suited for the throne better than her... But yet it was one of the things that caused her country's demise? About the King who wanted to erase the past, erase the things that she had done, the things that her trusted knights had done, all their failures, all their defeats, all their victories, and all their successes, just because _she_ wanted things to be different?

...How selfish. How arrogant. How callous. These are the answers that instantly came to her mind.

How selfish she was, to desire a change of fate that would besmirch her Knights' accomplishments. How arrogant she was, to think that she was the only one who could be Britain's king, and yet directly caused the civil war because of her incapability and inability to see and accept her own flaws.

And how callous she was... to only think about her own self... her own twisted and childish ideals... and in doing so, blinding herself to those who are... 'imperfect', unlike her. And also made herself blind to the plight of her own subjects... and the plight of her friends and her own Queen...

What a _great_ King she was...

These questions along with the painful answers that came along with it began to gnaw at the Servant of the Sword's heart. They made her eyes filled with despair as tears began to form and fall towards her cheeks and trailing down to her chin.

And with it, unbeknownst to her just yet... _something _began to awaken inside of herself...

Something that was made due to the crude method of Shirou Emiya's summoning... and due to himself... because of what he is.

...

* * *

...

The sound of the school's bell was the sign for the students to go home and rest after a day of hard work at studying.

Usually, the majority of the students would be staying at their class for several more minutes after the bell rang, but besides Shirou, all of them were too exhausted to spend more time in the school, even just for a relaxing socialization amongst classmates.

Even Issei was quite exhausted, his skin was paler than it would be had he were a bit healthier, and Shirou knew for a fact that nearly the whole school except for a few exception felt as if they were hit by some kind of plague of some kind to some degree.

It was the work of a Master and his or her Servant, of that there is no doubt.

'Considering what this Bounded Field is supposed to do... I guess that the Master would be an incompetent magus who couldn't sustain his or her Servant properly...' he thought as his eyes narrowed, 'Just the kind of people that would not be missed if they were to be gone from this world... especially by me.' he added.

He blinked, and then he looked around, and he saw that there were a few people who had turned to look at him. They had just seen the expression that they had never seen on him before, an expression of anger.

Shirou then opted to turn his head away and sat on his chair, deciding to wait until all of them decided to leave the classroom... Which they did. And he sighed at that, knowing that they probably felt off at his sudden change of expression.

But he decided to let them leave and wait at the classroom for several more minutes as he ponder on what he should do next...

...

Of course, it was all already in his mind. Considering the already circulating news about the victims of a mysterious assailant lurking around Fuyuki City, whose victims were mostly young women, he assumed that perhaps this same Servant is also the perpetrator of the killings.

After all, he knew that a Servant, or a Heroic Spirit, required Mana to sustain their existence... And he made a deduction that if the hero's Master were inadequate, then other sources of Mana could be found... in the form of another person's life, their Od to be exact.

So whoever the Master was, and whatever 'hero' the Servant is supposed to be, he will find them and bring an end to their blood-filled path.

After feeling the school had completely fallen silent and seeing the sky began to darken, Shirou decided that it was time to go, he hoisted his backpack and walked out of the classroom...

Mid-way however... he began to feel a threat, lurking in the dark corners of the hallway, unseen but yet there...

He sniffed, hoping that the scent would allow him to correctly deduce who the enemy was...

And he blinked before he sigh, as the familiar smell was enough to let him know about the enemy's identity.

"I _really _hope that it won't come to this... Tohsaka." he said out loud towards nobody in particular.

He also noticed the lack of one more person, and that was apparent when he can only smell Rin and not smoke and steel... like the smell that the Servant of the Bow with tanned-skin has.

...He hates that man. It was similar to that priest with the empty eyes... that Servant, Archer... one look at him and he couldn't hold the feeling of hatred surging violently within him.

But the Servant didn't make any other moves beside showing himself to him, he didn't even attack. And for that, he left him and Rin alone. At the very least, Shirou still honored what he had said to Rin the night before.

Although this time, Rin decided to make the first move.

Not truly surprising, after all, he had expected no less from her. 'But still... if its a fight she wants...'

He began to assess his surroundings, and with his sight, he saw nothing but an empty halfway. But the scent was still there, and therefore, he assumed that Rin was going to give some kind of surprise attack.

'Long range offensive magecraft...' Shirou assumed, knowing that in a battle situation, most magus would position themselves behind the enemy lines and using some kind of thaumaturgy that would decimate the enemy from afar, 'Though in this small space... what could she do...?'

The sound of something being shot at high speed and the bright light that accentuated his shadow made him realized that she's attacking from behind.

His adrenaline began to kick in, and he swiftly turned his head to see the projectiles that she was shooting, and after seeing its trajectory, he managed to avoid it without using any of his thaumaturgy to do so, but instead using his forged instinct to react faster than even the projectiles' velocity.

Hearing the sound of someone clicking her tongue, he assumed that she had made the assumption that he wouldn't be able to dodge an attack from behind.

Shirou sighed as he stood from his crouched position, "Tohsaka... can't we talk about this?"

Again, there was no reply. Just like he had expected, but still, an attempt must be made. He couldn't just accept the situation without even trying to make it better.

Then came the sound of broken glass as the projectiles was shot from inside the classroom beside him, this time multiple of them simultaneously.

Instinctively, Shirou Traced a pair of swords with golden-tinted blade and blue-tinted handles, he then used the twin swords to perfectly deflect the three projectiles, and when each one of them hit other things instead of him...

**"Boom!"**

They created small explosions that disoriented Shirou slightly, but he managed to get over it pretty quickly, an act that was rendered possible due to the realization that he's now in a battlefield, against an enemy that he did not want to kill, at all cost.

But then only a second after he managed to compose himself... he saw the bright lights that was created by numerous projectiles that was shot by Rin, in greater numbers than before, perhaps ten to twenty. And they managed to bring out a reaction out of him.

He sighed as the projectiles began to come down upon him, and he then wearily said; "...Really?!"

...

* * *

...

As the sound of explosions rang throughout the certain empty hallway in the school where two magus were currently having a battle, the sound of someone running was drowned out by the noise of the aforementioned explosions.

She hadn't expected that Shirou would immediately know she was waiting for the perfect moment to strike, but when she heard him saying her name, she knew that the element of surprise was slightly downgraded.

Rin had wondered how he could detect her presence, but then, as soon as she began to ask herself, the answer presented itself.

He smelled her scent. Just like how he could trace the closest source of the Bounded Field, it could technically allow him to smell the presence of someone else. And maybe to him, the smell of a magus is rather strong compared to those who are not.

As much as the thought of him able to smell her from afar had made her blush, she had managed to re-focus herself to the situation at hand.

Then, she had decided to attack him from behind, and what that merely did was just giving him the knowledge of how she's going to attack, by using Gandr, a simple curse that, if it were given enough prana, could physically harm someone. But Shirou was savvy and fast enough to dodge the first shot.

But _this was_ the part where she hoped she would have an advantage in, by using the multiple Gandr, she would distract him long enough for her to get close and took him head on...

And when Shirou finally deflected the last of the Gandr, Rin was right there, merely a few inches away from him.

Though she saw him using swords, his shocked expression and the nearly imperceptible flinch on his posture was an indication that he didn't expect her to fight him head-on, and that he's reluctant to attack her with his swords.

And that fact allowed her to be able to land an attack, by giving him a strong kick into his abdomen, a kick that was augmented by her usage of Reinforcement on the attacking appendage no less!

The redhead magus skidded backwards for a couple of feet, but considering the stinging feeling on her feet, she knew that Shirou had used Reinforcement as well to absorb the brunt of the attack.

But then, she began to dash towards him once again, intending to beat him into submission. Starting by giving him a roundhouse kick targeted at his head.

But Shirou was equally fast...

**"WHUD!"**

...As she found that her kick was blocked by his wrist, instead of his sword. Shirou Emiya realized that he's facing a magus who could fight in close quarters, and therefore, he must respond accordingly, but not lethally, considering who he's fighting.

So he had de-summoned his swords, and began to counter Rin's attack by directing a punch to her head.

She blocked it, but at the cost of removing her leg from being blocked by his wrist. And in doing so, Shirou got another opening that he could exploit, and so when Rin blocked his first punch, his second one was almost ready to hit her right in her face.

And thus began the fight in earnest, with Rin finding herself struggling to maintain her distance from Shirou, whose flurry of punches was quite strong, and not to mention unpredictable.

There was no pattern in his attacks, there were only his calm determination and his frightening accuracy, as she found out that if she didn't block even just one of his punches, she could very well get hit right in her head and would be disoriented enough for him to land the final blow that could take her life.

She gritted her teeth, surprised and frustrated by the surprising turn of events, even though Shirou merely used Reinforcement to augment his durability just like what she's doing, his was slightly stronger than hers as she found herself slowly worn down... and the pain in her wrists became even more prominent as she blocked every single punch that he directed at her.

But there was nothing that she could do _besides _blocking, he was moving way too fast and too unpredictable for her to try to dodge or to perform a counter-attack, and she could very well get painfully hit by his Reinforced fists in trying to.

Then, after a few minutes of struggle that felt like hours, she hit her back to a wall. She slightly turned her head, and found that she was thoroughly trapped, "Damn it...!" she said through her gritted teeth.

But then, as a shadow loomed over her, she turned her head towards her front once again...

And found the figure of one Shirou Emiya -much, much scarier now than she had ever seen him, considering that what she just did is basically solidifying her status as an enemy to him-, calmly narrowing their distance, inch by inch, all the while looking as calm as he had ever been...

And because of his superior height, when he was close enough, she found herself physically looking up to him as she's trapped like a mouse facing a wolf... a massive, dangerous, glaring wolf... Who looked like he's ready to eat her whole at any moment.

Despite not wanting to do so, she flinched at his gaze, though she's still trying to look strong by reciprocating his glare with her own, despite the fact that he could see her shaking slightly. "...Hmph... it seems you caught me, Emiya-kun." she said with defiance apparent in her tone of voice.

"I told you that I do not want to become your enemy, Tohsaka." Shirou replied calmly.

She huffed and said; "And I told you that that is impossible, this is War, Emiya-kun. It is expected that we kill each other in this competition."

Then he hunched slightly so that he could stare at her right on her eye-level, "...Do you think I care about all this, Tohsaka?" he asked with a serious tone of voice. "Have I ever said that I want to achieve the Grail to fulfill a wish?" he asked of her.

"...No." she said after a few moments of thinking, her eyes widened at that, "...Then, why did you want to participate?"

"Because of a magus like the Master who allowed his Servant to place this kind of Bounded Field in a crowded area. The same magus that has allowed his Servant to kill people left and right by attacking them when they don't even know the War." he began, "These kinds of people... they fight without any regards towards the others who are not and should _not_ be involved... and if they get their hands on the Grail... who knows what could happen?"

"...So... you're participating to protect the innocents? To prevent people like this from reaching the Grail?" she asked, such a ridiculous reason to participate in the Holy Grail War, but...

"Yes." Shirou answered without hesitation.

...If it's him...

"Then... you don't have any wish you want to be fulfilled by the Grail?"

"No. I do not." he answered swiftly, "And besides... an omnipotent wish-fulfilling machine...? No matter at what angle you're looking at it, it just seems so off-putting when you give it a bit more thought." he added.

...Somehow, she found herself inclined to believe him, what he said made her think that the idea of the Holy Grail is rather suspicious... Even if it was just for a second. "Well... then what would you want to do to me now?"

"...As I have said before... I will not kill you." he said before he took a step back and extended his hand towards her, "But this time... I will also propose an alliance."

"...What?"

"I am hoping for a permanent one, though I'll be satisfied with a temporary one if you don't want to." Shirou continued, "I want to at least gather the most decent of the competitors together. And considering your wish, I want to make sure that _you_ get what you're in for, instead about those whose wishes might be less than benevolent or even outright destructive."

"...You're really too trusting... even for your own good, Emiya-kun."

He merely smiled and said; "Hey, I give my trust to those who deserves it. There's a limit as to how much I can trust someone after all."

Rin merely sighed at that, but then she blinked, as what he said finally caught up to her, "...Wait, so you think that I deserve it? Even after what I did to you?"

In response, he merely shrugged, "I had already expected that you'll try and attack me when you perceive that I'm at my most vulnerable... despite your oversight, it wasn't something that would warrant my caution of you. You're not a bad person, Tohsaka." he then continued with; "So? What do you say?"

Rin took a moment to think about how she should answer his offer, she could refuse, after all, despite not having any wish for the Grail, his Servant might have one that she wished to have for herself, so in the end, they might come to blows after all.

But, on the other hand, a temporary alliance sounded somewhat enticing, considering that Archer was not exactly fit for combat for the moment, his wound has yet to completely heal... and considering that there is a malevolent pair of Master-Servant that had been gathering Mana from the innocents' lifeforce...

"Very well... I accept your offer, Emiya-kun." she said as she shook his hand.

"For a temporary or a permanent one?" asked Shirou.

"...Temporary." she answered, "At the very least, until Archer is fully healed." she finished as she pulled her hand away from his.

"Alright. I'll accept that." the redhead magus answered with a smile, "So we're allies now."

"It seems so..." she doesn't know why, but she smiled as she said that, "So what would be our first course of action, Emiya-kun?"

"Hm..." Shirou mulled before he said; "Why don't we find out who's the Master that controlled this Servant first? After we finish that, we'll move on to different things. How's that sound?"

"Hm... acceptable." she conceded, "After all, this Master's method of sustaining his Servant also bothers me... he must be an inept magus, to use such a despicable method." she said as she narrowed her eyes.

Shirou smiled, knowing that he had been thinking the same thing as she does about this particular Master. "Then what do you say about starting tomorrow? We'll meet at the rooftop after school, we'll discuss about what we know about this devious magus, then we'll make a plan to know his identity and then bring some karmic retribution up his ass. How does that sound?"

At that last one, she held back her laughter, but she nevertheless agreed with the notion, "It would be quite a pleasure."

Shirou nodded in affirmation before he turned to leave, Rin was about to leave by going the opposite way, but he stopped her by saying; "Tohsaka, there's one thing that I've been meaning to ask you about."

She turned towards him and asked; "What?"

"...She has been absent from the school for quite sometime now..." Shirou began, "At first, I thought it was just because she has some family business to attend to. But now that I know about the War... Tell me the truth, is she involved in this War like you are? Is she a magus?"

...Right... _her. _"...I think she _is_ participating in this War. Despite the lack of evidence supporting it, it just seems... fitting." Rin answered, knowing who is the person that Shirou is talking about, "And to your second question, yes. She is a magus."

There was a moment of silence before Shirou sighed and said; "Thanks for clarifying that." and then, he left with a parting words, "Tomorrow at the rooftop, alright Tohsaka?"

She nodded, and so, the redheaded magus left her to her own thoughts.

When she saw his form truly left the empty hallway, she sighed out of relief, she had exited the battle relatively unharmed except with the lingering pain on her wrists, and she had also secured an alliance with the redhead, instead of being officially considered as his enemy.

'All things considered, it's all working out quite well... even if what happened is not what I had in mind...' she thought to herself. 'But still, what's with his way of fighting anyway? There's no skill involved in that, just... innate talent for it.'

Just like a Berserker. She idly thought, even though the thought was rather ridiculous, Shirou Emiya as a Berserker... but she had to admit that he had some frightening prowess in hand-to-hand combat, even _without _the usage of his Tracing magecraft.

She shook her head once again as she said; "You're just _so_ broken Emiya-kun..."

...

* * *

...

As Shirou began to walk towards the school's gate, he saw that there was already someone there waiting for him. "Sakura." he greeted his purple-haired underclassman.

She perked up when she saw him, she had taken her time to wait for him, and when he had taken quite a bit longer than he used to, she was starting to get worried, but now, as he's coming closer, her previous fear slowly faded awat. "Sempai! What took you so long?" she wondered.

"Sorry about that Sakura. I had some things that I have to take care of." he said to her.

She huffed and said; "Did you repair all the broken electronic appliances again Sempai?" she asked with a pout.

He merely smiled sheepishly and said; "Well... they were all there and... what was I supposed to do?" he shrugged.

Sakura merely sighed, at the very least, despite his surprising insight that she had seen this morning, he is still the same Sempai, the one that she had always clung to. "Well... I guess you couldn't just leave them there..."

The redhead chuckled at the girl's answer, "Exactly. In all honesty though, I'm really sorry for making you wait." he apologized.

She gave him a bright smile, the brightest that she could muster, and said; "It's alright Sempai."

It prompted a nod from the redhead, and afterwards, their walk was filled with comfortable silence.

Then their walk took them to the proximity of a nearby park, a medium-sized park, riddled with trees, and the paths were only lightened up by several lampposts that were spread sporadically.

And the redhead magus idly noted that the area could be rather dangerous for someone to venture in... especially during this time, when a Servant who feeds on people's souls is lurking about...

"Sakura..." Shirou began.

"Yes Sempai?" she asked.

"Stick close to me." he said as he grabbed her shoulder and pulled and held her closer to himself.

The sudden action made her blush, a blush so red that to someone who doesn't understand the context, they would've thought that she's having a fever. And then she stuttered out; "S-s-se-sempai?" she asked again as she saw her Sempai looking around his surroundings.

"...I've got a bad feeling about this..." muttered out, "Sakura, have you heard the news about the young women who were attacked by some mysterious assailant?"

...Of course, Sakura already knew about that... after all, there's no way that she wouldn't know about that... "Y-yeah... I do." she answered.

"Call me paranoid... but I've a feeling that-"

_"KYAAAAAAA!"_

The sound of a woman screaming. Screaming out of horror, a plea for aid, a desperate attempt to call someone, something, to rescue her. Such is the purpose of the scream...

The redhead magus immediately turned his head towards the source of the noise, and the scream was also heard by Sakura, who also swiftly turned her head towards the sound, which came from the small park.

Shirou gritted his teeth, the Servant is attacking someone, and he couldn't just let this go by... "Sakura." he said to his underclassman, "Follow me." he ordered her calmly before he held her hand tightly and run, bringing her along with him.

They went into the park, which was rather filled with trees, and therefore rendering the surroundings even darker as the moonlight was not capable of piercing through the trees thoroughly, and illuminate the darkness.

And when they finally found the one who screamed...

She was already lying on the floor... unresponsive and looking as pale as a corpse...

Sakura gasped while Shirou narrowed his eyes, he instantly went over to the downed woman, and when he looked at her face... his eyes widened in recognition at the brown-haired young woman wearing the uniform of the Homurahara Academy...

"Ayako?" he said. And Sakura, hearing what Shirou said, walked closer, and she once again gasped as she saw the prone form of the captain of the Archery club in front of her.

"M-Mitsuzuri-sempai?"

Shirou gritted his teeth before he took out his cellphone, his birthday gift when he was fourteen, given by the tiger so that he could, in her own words... 'Get in touch with the latest trend.' He gave it to Sakura and said; "Sakura, call an ambulance. And quickly. She may not survive if we took too much time."

"Y-yes!" she responded as she quickly pressed the buttons on the phone.

Shirou looked around his surroundings, and he began to sniff the air, like a canine filled with the intent to detect the enemy...

And what he discovered was that the air was filled with the smell of a snake...

The predator was nearby...

"Stay here, Sakura." he ordered her before he went to a nearby tree and climbed it with such agility that one usually see from a parkour practitioner, and it looked as if it was all natural to him.

When he reached the tree's top, he viewed his surroundings... and his eyes widened when...

...When he saw the predator...

He saw a woman, a woman with purple-colored long hair that reached to her knees, dressed rather scantily in black ensemble, black mini-dress combined with a pair of boots that reached to her thighs, and a pair of black fingerless evening glove.

And the other thing that he saw was the blindfold that covered her eyes, yet as she turned towards him, he could feel her gaze bearing down upon him. But he didn't flinch, he stared back right at the Servant, and the contact happened for a couple of seconds before she astralized herself, and disappeared from his view.

'...So that's the Servant that has been causing this in the first place...' Shirou thought, and he wanted to chase her down, perhaps killing her Master as well if he followed her towards the magus that is her Master...

...But no. He had something else to be taken care of... mainly regarding his two schoolmates down there...

He then jumped down from branch to branch until he reached the ground, where Sakura had just finished her call, "S-sempai! I already called for ambulance, but... but they said that it would take a while until they get here...!"

Shirou clicked his tongue, he then crouched and examined Ayako, he saw the wound that resembled a bite, the wound kept drawing out blood as it looked like it does not allow the blood to be clotted. And he realized that if they wait for the ambulance to arrive, then Ayako's life may be lost.

And he couldn't just let that happen. Not when he can do something about it.

So he turned to Sakura, and with a steely gaze he said to her; "Sakura. What I'm about to do... I will explain after it's done. And you have to promise me that you will _not_ tell anyone about this. Can you do that?"

Sakura immediately knew that he will attempt to heal Ayako. _B__ut, _she also knew what caused her to fall into this state in the first place... and to her knowledge, there was almost nothing save for a powerful spell that can save Ayako.

"I-I promise." Sakura answered, while inwardly wondering what he will do to save Ayako.

Shirou nodded before he turned to Ayako, he stretched both of his arms towards where her heart would be, and closed his eyes shut.

"Trace On."

**Judging the concept of creation...**

T'was a vague concept created by forces of nature. A scabbard forged from the Divine Mystery of the World itself.

**Hypothesizing its basic structure...**

**Duplicating the component materials...**

A scabbard that can only be used to clothe only one sword in existence... And of its true owner, there would be naught but one...

**Imitating the skill of its making...**

**Sympathizing the experience of its growth...**

A scabbard that symbolized the wielder's struggle. Against the enemies of a leaderless country...

**Reproducing its accumulated age...**

Against the enemies of a country which was led by its rightful king...

**Excelling every manufacturing process...**

Against the rebels that seek to dethrone their ideal and immortal king...

**Melding its Form to one's anchor to Gaia...**

**Channeling its energy through one's astral gates...**

And finally, a scabbard that symbolized the king's struggle to reach the ever-so-distant Utopia that was denied of her... by her own self.

**All process completed. The Dreamed Utopia is active.**

And before Sakura's eyes, Shirou's arms glowed brightly, and much to her surprise, she saw Ayako's wound healing and her skin began to get its usual color back, a sign that Shirou was healing her somehow.

The purple-haired girl was awed, awed by the unexpected ability that her Sempai just performed, and how he was capable of such a thing that could be said as something close to Sorcery. Magecraft? No. It was not that, that much she knew from even just a glimpse.

Her Sempai had used something to bring the archery club captain back to health... Something... holy, and very... _very _powerful.

And when Shirou deemed he healed Ayako enough for her to survive, the golden light began to dim, and then... an awkward silent followed as Sakura's mind was wondering what it was that her Sempai has done, coming to many assumptions thanks to that. And what Shirou was doing is to wait for her to ask the first question after that display of power.

But after a minute of silence, it was Shirou, not Sakura, who first broke the tense silence, "...You didn't ask me anything..." he then turned to her and gazed right into her purple eyes, his amber eyes blazing, not out of fury but out of grim seriousness.

"Could it be that you have an idea about what I can do?" he asked.

...Oh no... Her inaction and silence had caused him to come to the assumption that she had known about his status...!

Granted, it _was_ true, she had already known about his status as a magus... but to reveal it now would also reveal that she had been lying to him for quite a while... not to mention the fact that this situation might lead to him realizing that she might be...

"Sakura..." Shirou asked as Sakura was absolutely stunned and confused as to what she should do in this situation, "Are you...?" he trailed off, as if not wanting to finish the question.

...There's no way out of this. This she knew...

"Sempai... I..." she began before she tilted her head downwards, as if afraid of facing him, and she clasped her hands together, "...yes..." she answered meekly.

After a second of silence, she heard Shirou sighing, "About knowing my status as a magus? Or about your status as a magus? Or both of them?" he asked again, with no hostility apparent in his tone of voice.

"...both." she answered softly, as if out of shame.

Then came another moment of silence before she patted her head, making her somewhat surprised by the gesture of affection, "Sakura... whatever your reason is to hide it... if you don't want to talk about it, it's okay." he said.

...What he just said brought a wave of calming feeling to her body, she looked up, and she saw the face of Shirou Emiya, smiling rather sheepishly. And then the redhead continued with; "And as for myself... I'm sorry about hiding it from you. Really, I am."

...Why did he apologize to her? He didn't need to! "S-sempai, i-it's alright! I-In fact, I should be the one to apologize! I-I have been lying to you, making you think that I'm just a normal girl, and I-!"

She was silenced when her hair was ruffled by him, an act that made her blush rather brightly, and then he said; "It's alright. You have your reasons, I have mine. I just wish that we could find this out in better circumstances."

Like a cat being petted, she relished the feeling and found herself unable to speak anything further but; "...o-okay..."

He sighed as he then said; "Then I guess you already know about the War, huh?"

"...Y-yes." she answered.

"(sigh...) Well... this changes things..." he remarked with a sigh.

Then, the sound of someone groaning made their heads turn towards Ayako, who was beginning to wake up.

She opened her eyes slightly, and saw the stars on the sky above her... "Where am I...?"

Then, she heard the sounds of faint footsteps, she only turned her head, her body still too weak from being too deprived of her energy, and she saw a silhouette, a figure of a man, who was shadowed by the moonlight shining on his back.

"...W-who...?"

The figure shushed before he placed his hand above her eyes and closed them, and before she fell unconscious, she heard a voice that said...

_"Rest. You'll be well and healthy when you wake up next time."_

...

* * *

...

_Near the park..._

A pair of grey eyes gazed onto the spot where the redheaded young man and the purple-haired girl was conversing right besides the unconscious girl as he watched from above, unrealized by the two teenagers...

Like a hawk watching its prey, he never let his sight be diverted by anything, and amongst the three teenagers down there, the young man was the one whom he gave his utmost attention to.

Unbeknownst to his Master, he had received much of his memories... thanks to her little act of restoring the boy's wound using that gem, the memories came flooding in like a large amount of water coming out of a broken dam.

And he instantly knew why the redheaded boy had irked him so. And he also knew... that even though he wanted to kill him so much...

He wouldn't be able to achieve his intended goal here...

The rules established within Gaia, particularly pertaining the methods to eliminate one's contract with a deity, are rather tricky to get around with. And with this knowledge, he knew that he's not in the right place and time. And to kill this boy would only be a waste of time and energy on his part.

...But still... it _could _do the boy some good...

Because based by what he had seen, despite the boy's powers... despite his capability, he still had that dream... the dream to become a hero. He could see it in the boy's eyes... though different, they were similar to his own back then...

It might be best to let him learn the futility of that desire...

...No matter how much pain he has to inflict upon him in the process...

_"Archer? Where are you?"_

...But that matter will be taken care of later... For now... he had a Master to attend to.

...

* * *

**End of Chapter 3**

* * *

Right, so, maybe you guys are wondering who is this _she _that Shirou mentioned in his conversation with Rin. Don't worry, _she _is not an OC or anything... if you've played the visual novel and its sequel, you should have an idea as to who this person is.

After all, she is quite known within the fandom.

Alright, so I'll see you at the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **TYPE-MOON owns the Fate series.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

It was quite late at night when Shirou finally arrived at his house.

He and Sakura had spent their time waiting for the medics to arrive by talking, and from the ensuing conversation after the reveal, he now knows something new about Sakura, which is the fact that she is a magus, like him.

Through what she had said, he gathered that she had known about his status as a magus ever since four years ago, when he was twelve. And it was the time where his Circuits were materialized, and it was also when the training that he had been having with his former mentor began to escalate to higher levels.

At the age of six, he was introduced to a person by his father, this person would later become his mentor, not just in terms of teaching him about combat techniques or what is Magecraft and its workings. But also about philosophy, mainly about his own.

At the age of six until eleven, the main thing that he always taught him was the stories of heroes long past along with the way he should think. This came to being after he told his mentor that he wanted to be a hero.

His mentor then offered him some training, to which, Shirou positively and happily replied. But in return, he had asked for Shirou's willingness to endure anything that he'd throw at him.

One of them was his teachings about the best mindset that one could have in certain situations. This confused him at first. And he had many arguments with his mentor about his way of life and thinking, but afterwards, his mentor would always give him a calm, enlightening, yet brutally honest rebuttal.

In retrospect, Shirou could see that it had helped him instead of inconvenienced him. And considering his... distortion, as his mentor once called it as, his irregular mentality, it had helped him stay true to who he is while adding some other elements that improved him. As if sharpening a sword with a whetstone.

At that time, his mentor would also teach him how to fight, mainly using his power to give him a weapon for a spar with him. He also taught him to improve his body, mostly by exercises disguised as a game or something like that, which led him to finding his affinity in a branch of athletics that is called parkour.

But at first, the physical trainings were few, in-between of the many many arguments about how he should act and think.

They strained his mental capability to adapt and to improve, because every time his mentor told him the best way to think or the best way to solve a problem in real-life situations, Shirou would then argue by giving his mentor his perspective that is biased towards his previous ideals of letting everyone, including the ones who caused the problem to live, and then his mentor would give rebuttals to his points with brutal honesty.

He did that every day, every hour that they meet, for nearly five years to him. He broke him, he deconstructed him, and finally, he re-created him.

And Shirou respected him because he would _listen. _Despite the sheer naivety of what he said back then, he would listen, he never interrupted his train of thought, he never interjected him when he was speaking, he would always wait until Shirou is finished talking before he would give his honest response.

Then after five years of focusing in mental training, his mentor then turned the focus to the physical trainings.

If there was a word that could define how it was like for Shirou... it would be this...

Rigorous.

By all the gods in the world, it was very... _very _rigorous.

But yet, in all those three years of tough physical training, he never once saw it as something not worth remembering. All of it, the pain, the thrill, the sound of weapons clashing... If he were to close his eyes and concentrate about those times... he could still feel how his heart beat erratically as he dodged, deflected, and countered his mentor's attacks... Or, at the very least try to.

He lost most of the time of course, with a single exception at the end of their training.

At that time, his mentor also began to teach him about Magecraft... or, at the very least, about his own special branch of Magecraft. The ones that he could fully master.

His father, being a specialized magus himself, approved of his mentor's method, even before he discovered his Origin and Element...

And when his mentor discovered them and told them to his father, it made his father's eyes as wide as the human body allows it to be.

Especially his Origin.

Though the extent of what his Origin and Element are was not explained to Sakura, he did explain to her about his specialties, such as Tracing, Reinforcement, and Structural Analysis. Low-ranked spells, but more than just useful for him.

When she finally got to the point where she asked what he did to heal Ayako, he gave her his answer, which was...

_"It was something that was implanted in me when I was a kid. I merely acted as a channel to give its healing energy to Ayako."  
_

Of course, he didn't go into detail as to what it was that he contained... just that it was an artifact so powerful, so sacred, and so engraved within him that it had become a part of him.

And combined with his physical Circuits given to him by his mentor, it was not a hard feat to channel the artifact's power to heal others...

In fact, when he learned how to use this ability, the first person that he tried to do it with was his father.

He had seen his health failing a few months before his death by some kind of sickness. His breaths had been shallow and ragged at times, his movements had become more and more subdued, his skin had gotten paler overtime, and his physique had become skinnier and skinner every day... and so, knowing that his father had been ill, he had tried to heal his affliction using the artifact.

...He had failed to do so of course... it was not that he was unskilled with his ability, it was also not because of the lack of link between the artifact and its true wielder, nor was it because he was not as powerful like now...

But even the crystallization of the dreamed Utopia could not heal an ancient, diabolical curse... older than the so-called all-powerful artifact.

His father never explained how he contacted the curse or what it was... just that he had been in a fruitless endeavor that led to him having the curse that had gnawed both his body and soul... the reason why his lifespan had been shortened significantly.

He had told Shirou to accept it, as he had already done so ever since he knew what's happening to him. And Shirou did so, reluctantly...

But overtime, he learned to truly accept the fact that there was nothing that could be done.

So, he explained to Sakura about nearly everything, about his Thaumaturgy, his specialization, his capability, his magus of a father, his former mentor, and finally, his participation in the Holy Grail War.

But he didn't go into the sensitive details... As much as it bothered him to not tell the whole thing to Sakura, there are some things that only a few people should know.

However, he had promised her that he will tell her everything in time. And that he will also give her time to tell him about her life, because he had seen her hesitation, and he said to her that if she doesn't want to share her own story now, she could do so later. He will not ask, he will not pry, but he will wait until she is ready.

And that made the purple-haired girl happy, as she had smiled and thanked him.

It seemed as if she wasn't ready to talk about it just yet...

...

His eyes narrowed as he began to remember one little tidbit that he hated...

He had left Sakura with that... that...

That _thing..._

When the ambulance that she had called arrived at the scene and took Ayako to the hospital, Shirou decided to walk Sakura home, fearing that she might get attacked by that Servant that he had seen just a few seconds before.

She accepted his gesture, and after the ambulance was gone, the two of them began their walk towards the Matou family residence, a big house with a western influence apparent in its design, a rather luxurious house, he had thought when he first saw it.

When they arrived, they were greeted by... by Sakura's grandfather.

It was his first meeting with the man... Zouken Matou, Sakura called him as... while as for Shirou...?

He called him as an abomination... regrettably, not right in front of the thing's face, and not out of his mouth, but from within his mind.

That stench... that god-awful, gut-wrenching stench coming from that being...! It had sickened him to his very core... such a _thing... _such a thing should not be called human... let alone a living, breathing, normal being.

He had moved himself closer to Sakura out of his instinct in an act to protect her. He saw through the creature's honeyed words... his grandfatherly facade... his smile that at a glance seemed normal, but at a closer look, would reveal a mind filled with sickening thoughts...

These things, these keen insights... they were as natural to him as breathing, his talent, and a part of what makes him Shirou Emiya... and his mentor had taught him to never doubt it.

And so, like a dog protecting its master, he had glared right to the abomination's eyes as he spoke his sweetened words that were filled with malice instead of honesty and compassion, the things that he tried to masquerade as, but the mask ultimately failed and ripped off under his scrutinizing eyes.

Though in the end he failed to prevent Sakura from going inside what he now saw as a cursed place as she begged him not to, he swore to himself that he would bring an end to that monster...

Whatever experience that Sakura had gone through inside that place... inside that same house that she's sharing with that god-awful abomination... whatever she had experienced... they are not good. That much he knew and realized then and there.

And so, he would wait... he would wait until he had enough reason to attack, and he _will _obliterate that creature and save Sakura.

He then entered his house, his mind already been set and his determination has been channeled... and when he entered, he called out; "I'm home...!"

...Though there was no reply.

He raised his eyebrows, not expecting a silence as a response to his greeting; "Saber?" he then called again.

...But then, came the lurching sound of an empty stomach...

He walked quickly towards the source, which is located right in the living room, and when he slide the door open, he saw... Well, he saw the prone form of Saber, who seemed to be rather deprived of his energy.

_"In another news, the city of Turifas in Romania is in the early stage of reconstruction. After the-"_

Shutting off the television that had been left on on the news channel by the Servant, she then turned to Saber again, "...Saber?" he asked again.

**"Grroooooo..."**

And once again, her response was the sound that her stomach made, but this time, she tilted her head up while still lying down on her stomach, and when she saw Shirou, her face brightened slightly as she said, "...Shirou... food..."

The redhead then realized that he had been somewhat late, the ambulance had taken a _long _time to get to the park, and considering that he took his time to walk Sakura home afterwards...

"Oh right! Sorry about that, I'll quickly make dinner, okay?" he said.

When she nodded, he immediately discarded his backpack, and went to the kitchen in a swift motion without even bothering to change his clothes first.

There's a hungry woman in his residence, and he'll be damned if he did not provide her with what she needed!

...

* * *

...

A pair of purple eyes stared at the moon above the sky through the glasses from the window in her room...

As she stared at the moon, she could vividly remember when her Sempai moved himself right in front of her when they arrived at her home and was greeted by her grandfather.

He had stood there, as if a knight protecting his princess... and she knew that he intended to protect her from her grandfather.

It had scared her... but yet, it also pleased her... as she saw that her Sempai was not afraid of him or was deceived by his friendly demeanor. And the thing that also made her happy was the fact that his first instinct was to come to her side, as if attempting to shield her from harm.

Her Sempai had been somewhat polite and cordial with her grandfather... but she could feel the anger right beneath the calm exterior, and from how his eyes were burning with tranquil fury, she had also seen that there had been a desire to destroy her grandfather, just like what he had done to those who had bullied her when they first met.

She had managed to stop him by grasping his wrist tightly, and silently pleaded him to not go through with it.

He had relented... but she had seen the hatred towards her grandfather that still lingered beneath his eyes...

When her grandfather ordered to come into the house, she obeyed, but before she got too far, Shirou grabbed her by her shoulder and whispered...

_"I will save you. I promise."_

Her heart had skipped a beat, she had looked right into her Sempai's eyes back then... And she had seen only his seriousness.

He wasn't joking. He knew, or at least had an idea what her grandfather actually was... and he will try his hardest to save her...

She found herself smiling... her Sempai was strong... of that, she has no doubt now... especially after what he just did and what he had explained to her, about his abilities and his Circuits...

Hope began to burn brightly in her heart, somehow, even though she knew that her Sempai was only a human, she believed that he could do even the things considered as impossible.

Maybe it was because what he had had told her once, when they were little...

_"You called me a hero once, Sakura... Someday, I don't know when and how, I will prove to you that I deserve that title."_

_"...Why? You're already a hero to me."_

_"It's... it's something that somebody told me... He said that the title of a hero can be easily given to anyone, but to prove that you are truly worth to be called as such is the real challenge." _he then showed her a wide smile and said; _"No matter what it is that I will do, I will prove to you that I deserve that title."_

...He had made her believe...

Right then and there, he had made her believe that he could do anything. And that nothing could stop him, and that against all odds, he would stand...

But above all, he will triumph.

And because of that, because of that sliver of hope, so small yet so bright that it illuminated the encroaching darkness... she will hold on... she will endure... all for the sake of the young man who will prove that he deserves the title that she had given to him.

...

* * *

...

Saber sighed satisfactorily and patted her stomach after the delectable meal that Shirou had brilliantly cooked despite the short amount of time spent. "Thank you for the food Shirou..." she said to the redhead who's currently cleaning the dishes.

"No problem Saber." Shirou answered, "Sorry about my tardiness, I uh... got into a lot of complications along the way..." he said.

She immediately dropped her relaxed attitude, she turned to Shirou and asked him; "Was it an enemy Servant Shirou?"

He sighed and answered; "Well, there were two complications, the first one did not involve an enemy Servant but an enemy Master."

"Who?" Saber asked again.

"Tohsaka, the girl whose Servant you've wounded when I first summoned you." he answered, "And as for the second complication, well... it's not so much as I got into a conflict with an enemy Servant... But I did meet her."

"What? Why didn't you summon me with your Command Seal, Shirou?" she asked as she stood.

"Because it didn't escalate into a fight." Shirou answered, "The Servant that I encountered attacked one of my classmates, when I got to her, I found her unconscious body with a lot of her Od sucked out. Then I ordered Sakura to call an ambulance while I try to see if I could see the Servant... and I did."

"...Who is she?" Saber asked.

"I don't know. I only saw her from afar... but she was tall, had a long purple hair, wearing a rather skimpy dress colored in black, and she also had a blindfold covering her eyes." Shirou answered, "Oh, and she also smelled like a snake." he added as an afterthought.

"...Hm? Snake?" Saber asked in confusion.

"Yes. Snake..." Shirou answered, "Which bothers me somewhat, snake is not an animal often symbolically connected with a hero... so I wonder who she could be..." he uttered. "And that blindfold... hm... I need to think this further."

Saber also began to think about the Servant that Shirou had encountered, but before she got too deep in her thoughts, she remembered something that Shirou had said; "Shirou, did you say that she smelled like snake?"

"Yes." Shirou answered with a nod.

"...What does that mean? How could you smell snake on her?" she wondered.

"...Right, forgot to tell you this, I have an ability to detect magecraft with my nose. And if an area is thick with traces of magic, I could identify it with its smell." he explained. "Though sometimes the scent has to be exuded continuously to work... and in the case of this Servant... she's practically thickened the air with her scent."

...Oh. Well, that is certainly useful. "I see." Saber acquiesced, "Then what do you propose, Shirou?"

"We'll meet Tohsaka tomorrow after school in the rooftop. I'll tell her about this Servant that I saw, and from there we'll discuss our next move."

"...Tohsaka? The same person who attacked you at school?" Saber asked, unsure that he really just said that.

"Yeah. I offered her to join me as allies after I defeated her." Shirou said. "She's not that bad of a person, really. It's just in her nature to be competitive."

After all, he knew about her being the number one student in the school. So he had expected no less of her.

"...You are too trusting for your own good, Shirou." she chided him.

Saber saw him blink twice before he burst out laughing, obviously he found something that she said as funny, but on her part, Saber felt rather insulted, "Shirou, why did you laugh?" she asked calmly but sternly.

"Hahaha... sorry... it's just that Rin told me the exact same thing. That I'm too trusting for my own benefit." he then took a breather before he said; "You two are a lot more similar than I thought."

Saber couldn't help but frown, true, the Tohsaka woman was not that bad considering that she's also worried about Shirou's well being... but at least Saber was honest about it.

But still... if she could be honest about her worry over his well-being, can she be honest about her problem to him as well?

Remembering what she had experienced and what she had realized during his absence, she found herself wanting someone to share it with. The nightmares, the realization that she had been wrong... she needed to let it all out.

And there's only one way to do it. One person that she could reveal it to. And it must be done now, or else she might not get another chance or that she would not be able to gather up the courage to do so again.

"Shirou..." she began, her tone of voice was unsure and her expression was rather subdued.

Noticing this, Shirou immediately put the few yet uncleaned plates down and turned to her, "What is it Saber?"

"...It's nothing."

Damn it.

But unfortunately, -or fortunately-, Shirou once again noticed that there's indeed something that she wanted to talk about. "Saber..." he said her title as if warning her.

"S-sorry, it was nothing Shirou..." she said, still trying to divert the course of the conversation while inwardly, she's wondering why she felt so afraid about opening herself more to him, whom she knew that she couldn't lie to, considering that his insight was scary enough to break through any pretense.

"...Arturia..." he said her name out of genuine worry. "What's wrong?"

...Hearing him saying her name directly got her courage to grow again, and then she managed to begin with; "How... how did you know my name so quickly?"

"...From our link." Shirou answered, "When I slept, before you woke up because of that nightmare, I saw... I saw and recognized your sword."

"...You recognized Excalibur?" Saber asked with wide eyes, "How do you know Excalibur's form?"

He then smiled and said; "Innate Structural Analysis. My brain's direct connection with my Circuits also allows me to unconsciously perform any thaumaturgy, even during the absence of my consciousness. And the instant I saw that sword, I knew about its origin, its power and the name of its wielder. Which is you."

She had heard about how his Circuits affects his capability to perform Magecraft, so she silently chided herself to not connect the dots, "Of course..."

There was a moment of silence before the redhead once again broke it, "Is there anything else?"

"...No." she said, causing her heart to be filled with regret a mere moment after she said so.

But Shirou did not buy it, he knew that there's indeed something that she wanted to say to him, but he figured that she didn't want to speak of it just yet, and so he said; "Saber, are you sure that there is nothing else that you want to talk about?"

"...Yes." she said, though she quickly regretted that answer, as apparent by her physical reaction.

Shirou sighed before he said; "Very well. Anytime you're ready Saber, I'll always lend my ears whenever you need them."

As the redhead began to work on cleaning the plates again, Saber couldn't help but feel ashamed. Why did she hesitate? Why couldn't she explain what has been bothering her as if he wasn't trustworthy?

Was she afraid?

...Perhaps. After all, even during her lifetime, there was only a few of her subjects whom her secrets are privy to... And none of them, not even her own Knights, her loyal and faithful companions, understood what she had sacrificed to fulfill what she had assumed to be the ideal figure of a King.

Sharing was... not something that she's used to. She had been living her life by adhering to the idea that a King should stand alone, and as such, even her Queen, Guinevere, was only a Queen by the privilege of the title given to her for 'marrying' her.

She had never once opened herself to somebody else, even Bedivere and Lancelot, who knew about her true gender, only managed to know it because she could not lie to those who are that close to her.

Even then, she never spoke about her ideals to Guinevere, Lancelot, Bedivere, Gawain, or Kay, or any of her Knights of the Round Table.

Back then, it was because she believed that she must follow her own ideals alone. Not because she doesn't need anyone, but because a King was supposed to do so. And so they never knew about what exactly drove her to protect her country by doing what she did...

And it was the reason why her own people revolted. She understood that now.

But this time, her reason was different.

She's afraid. Afraid of opening herself to this young man, who had been nothing but helpful towards her.

He was kind, attentive, and caring, that much she knew. But yet, the fear stemmed from her insight, she had known what her ideals had cost her... And she had seen the potential future of following that broken ideal thoroughly through the mysterious dreams...

So if he knew about her childish ideals... would he judge her harshly? Would he say that it was foolish of her to do so? Just like what the King of Conquerors had said to her during the Fourth War?

Though it would not be without merit, as evident by how the King of Conquerors had struck a nerve in what he said about her people revolting against her due to her ideals...

And if it's the case with Shirou...?

...

* * *

...

"...What are you doing Lancer?" asked a woman to a certain blue-haired spearman.

The said spearman was none other than Cu Chulainn. The hound of Ireland who had fought Archer and the powerful boy named Shirou Emiya. The blue-haired spearman turned his head slightly to the left, turning his sight away from the night-time panoramic view of the Miyama district that he had been observing for the past few hours and turn to look at the woman behind him.

"I'm observing the city." he answered with a grin, "There's a Servant on the loose, attacking people left and right. I want to at least fight him or her." Lancer then turned towards the woman and said; "It's the least I could do after you told me not to search for that kid again..."

The woman sighed, her Servant had been rather itching to fight the redhead boy once more... the one who could fight the Hound on even terms and would almost won...

If he hadn't exhausted his prana to summon his Servant...

_Saber _of all classes...!

This made Bazett Fraga McRemitz rather miffed, seeing that the most powerful of all classes is summoned by someone who is possibly the strongest of all the Masters.

Such a dynamic can only mean one thing: Complete annihilation of the other participants.

Even though she had a lot of experience as an Enforcer, that boy... that boy's ability could not be considered as something normal. From her link with Lancer, she saw how he could summon and use many weapons that could stand against Gae Bolg's mystical substance.

Though his ability is something that she had never seen before, his fighting prowess is. He fought with the ferocity and skills that one would expect from an Enforcer of the Mage's Association such as herself or from an Executor of the Church.

How the hell such a person managed to elude the Association's knowledge was beyond her.

"That boy, Shirou Emiya, is a dangerous person. And you're not fully healed yet. That gauntlet did a number on you." Bazett said.

The lanceman merely grinned at that, "Yeah... that lion-head gauntlet... Man, what a weapon _that_ was...!"

Though she had known Cu Chullain's love for combat since she had read his legends ever since she was little, even to the point where she hoped to get him to participate in the War to fulfill whatever his wish was, she couldn't just allow him to fight any enemy when he's not really fit yet.

"But I get it." Lancer said, stopping whatever it was that Bazett was going to say, "I'll wait. Just like that boy said. That way, the battle can be a bit more fun." he said with a grin.

She could only sigh at seeing that grin, it was a grin that has a child-like quality to it, like an expectant child who's waiting for the prize to be given on his birthday.

When the boy said that he would gladly wait until Lancer is a bit better to fight, Bazett's first thought was that the redheaded boy was rather stupid or idealistic. But then again, with the power he had, pragmatism was the least that Bazett wanted from the boy. Who knows? Perhaps his idealism might be usable to increase their chance of winning.

But such things are better to be discussed later, for now, Bazette only nodded and said; "Good. Well... did you manage to see anything?" she asked.

"...None." Lancer replied, "This is a rather boring day, no traces of any Master or Servant in the vicinity... where the hell are they?"

"Probably making a strategy." Bazette answered, "After all, it's only been a few days, in times of war, it's normal to spend most of the wartime making strategies instead of fighting all the time."

Speaking of strategy, she idly wondered how the supervising priest at the Fuyuki Church is doing.

She was supposed to summon her Servant in his church, as the priest had been kind enough to offer her some protection when she had planned to visit Fuyuki to participate in the War, and she was supposed to go there the minute she arrived in the city.

But there were some... complications...

It involved a _really_ annoyed Bazett, a knocked out stuck-up millionaire, and a subsequent chase that she managed to escape because she used her family's Noble Phantasm to incapacitate several officers of the law, prompting her to hide herself from public due to her current status as a wanted suspect and summoned Cu Chulainn in the nearest abandoned building that she came upon. And finally, she had to walk around only at night to avoid attention.

Let all of that be the only things said about the matter.

"You're right... (sigh), not saying that I am liking this though."

Already expecting that it would be the Lancer's response, Bazett then said; "Well, we'll get to the fighting as soon as possible, until then, like you said before, we wait."

After finishing, she then began to go inside the abandoned building that she's occupying and leaving Lancer to his watch...

**"Caaaw!"**

The sound of a cawing crow caught her attention, she turned towards the sound and found a large black crow staring down at them from the top of the nearest tall building, a couple of feet apart from the one they're occupying.

The crow had a pair of red eyes that gleamed under the light of the night's moon. And as it stared down right at her, she felt as if she's being scrutinized by its gaze.

A few seconds of tense silence and inaction followed, but as it was just reaching its peak, the crow merely beat its wings and flew off.

And then another moment of silence followed, she turned to Lancer, and saw that the blue-haired spearman had also been staring at the crow with an apprehensive gaze. "...Lancer?" she asked.

"...Master... this War just got a _lot_ scarier..." he said with a trace of fear apparent in his tone of voice as cold sweat began to trail down from his forehead and down to his chin.

...

Amidst the darkness inside an undisclosed location, a woman's giggle could be heard echoing ominously...

"Ah... Cu Chulainn. I guess fate saw it fitting to bring us together as enemies... Now isn't that interesting?"

...

* * *

...

_She was standing inside of a church, and in front of her, stood a woman of the cloth, a nun, kneeling and praying to her god._

_Both of them were silent, they did not make any sound but the faint noise of their breaths. Then, the nun stood, her back still facing her, but she said; "...I should've known you would find me someday."_

_She turned, and she saw the familiar, beautiful face of the one she once called as her Queen._

_Guinevere. Her former Queen. Even several years after that fateful battle upon Camlann Hill where she mercilessly struck down her 'son' could not diminish her legendarily angelic beauty.  
_

_"It brings joy to my heart to hear that you live still... But it saddens me that you have chosen to walk this path."_

_She tilted her head down as she placed her hand upon where her heart would be, "When I heard about Lancelot's execution... A part of me yearned to go back to Camelot... Perhaps if I were to be captured and executed, I can part from this world and meet him again in the afterlife... But I know that he will not be happy if I do so."_

_"I love him... As much as I realize that our love was the cause of the crisis that nearly destroys the country, I still love him with all my heart..."_

_..._

_"When he passed away... I pray and pray for forgiveness for leading him to his demise... Every day... Every week... Every month... Every year... But even if God himself had forgiven me... I could never forgive myself for what I did."_

_As tears began to fall from her eyes, she looked towards her 'husband' and said this to her... "And I know that like me... you could never forgive me for what I did... And now... you have come here... to do what you have to do... Isn't that right, Arthur?"_

_She didn't speak, she didn't even change her expression. Instead, she summoned her once holy sword, advanced towards Guinevere..._

_And then stabbed her right in her abdomen with her black sword._**_  
_**

_Guinevere choked slightly as the figure of her 'husband' was just a few inches away from her, parted only by the sword that pierced her stomach and through her back. As blood began to pour out from her lips, she did something that her 'husband' didn't expect from her._

_She extended her hand to softly caress her cheek, her 'husband''s skin that had once been fair had become as white as snow... But never would Guinevere mistake the soft feeling of her skin for another's... _

_And then she smiled, and with a soft voice she said to her; "Justice to those who break their oaths... What you do is for the sake of the country, Arthur... If this would serve the country for the better... then I shall die without regrets..."_

_Then she uttered her final words to her 'husband'..._

_"And thank you... This way, I can meet him again without shame."_

_And as her arms fell down from her 'husband''s cheek and her body became limp, she knew that Guinevere was no longer among the living._

_She stood there for another second... And if one were to look at the King's face now..._

_They would see something that they would never expect out of her..._

_Which was the sight of a single tear falling down from one of her now yellow-colored eyes..._

...

* * *

...

A pair of green-colored eyes belonged to a certain female knight opened abruptly... And all she could see was a field of corpses...

"...Where am I...?"

Not long after she was brought out of that awful dream, Saber found herself in a field where a massive slaughter had occurred. A place so eerie and heart-breaking to gaze upon, for it showed how vicious and cruel humanity could become.

But she was not alone in this field of slaughter. For there was a figure standing right in front of her...

It was a figure of a woman, clad in black bulky armor and an equally black battle dress, her pale blonde hair was styled in a bun not unlike hers, but the bow that kept it so was colored in black instead of blue.

Saber stared at the figure's back, and then she heard her say...

"I am sure you just saw something worth seeing, King Arthur," she said, "Tell me, would you do the same if you were at my position? Can you bear the burden of having to kill your own friend? Your own wife? Hmph... granted, even though you only wed her for the sake of maintaining the masquerade, she's still your queen, your wife... But then again... you are a _king_."

There was a moment of silence before the woman clad in black spoke; "And _before_ you are a husband, before you are someone's friend... You are a king."

Saber's eyes narrowed, knowing that the woman in black implied that she was not strong enough to do what she had seen in the dreams.

...Granted... the woman had a point... And so she could not retort.

"Do you know what this place is... Arthur?" she asked Saber again, "This place... this field of slaughter... is the representation of the deaths that I've committed, all in the name of Britain."

Saber was shocked, the plethora of corpses could be seen stretching for miles and miles, grouped in stacks. all of them were as tall as a house, if not taller than that!

This was caused by her? What kind of monster is she?!

"They besieged my land... So I killed them all without mercy... At first I thought it was fair. They attacked my country first, so isn't it normal of me to seek retribution? To seek justice? And so I attacked them back. Conquered their country. Showed them that I am not someone whom they want to disturb."

"But my own people hated me for it... A Tyrant they called me... A Glorified Butcher. The Evil Monarch... But it was a small price to pay for peace."

Saber's eyes narrowed as she replied; "They were right to mock you as such. Nothing can justify what you did here! There is no honor in slaughtering these people just to make a point! It is not what a-"

"-Good king would do?" she finished Saber's speech abruptly, "A good king must keep his people at peace and thrive at all cost. And if it requires the act of conquering a nation to do so, if it requires the killing of those who seek to do them harm, if it requires the subjugation of other countries, then he must do so. Whatever the cost may be."

"...Even... even if he has to bear the burden of evil, he must do so."

Saber's eyes softened slightly, "But that's-"

"That's _reality. _That's the true burden of being a king. Mocked, hated, loathed, my own people have done that and more to me, but it's a small price to pay. A necessary evil." the woman clad in black answered, interrupting Saber's rebuttal "...And unlike you, little girl..."

The figure then turned towards Saber and stared at her right in her eyes that widened when she saw who she had been talking to.

"...I have accepted my role long ago." she replied with her yellow-colored eyes narrowed in pure rage, as if hating the sight that she's seeing, which was her counterpart.

"...Y-you...!"

Saber's dark counterpart smiled wickedly and said; "Yes... Me."

She then summoned her black sword and lifted it into the air, calling upon the ungodly power contained within it, the sword pulsed before it generated a massive black-colored energy that instilled _fear _into Saber's soul.

Her alternate self then swung the sword downwards, but before the dark energy could reach her...

...

* * *

...

Saber opened her eyes abruptly from her... nightmare? No, that's not it... that was... that was...

...Why did Shirou's back look so big...?

Her eyes widened and her cheeks began to redden as she then realized that she's not only too close to Shirou, but that her arms had been encircled around Shirou's back and to his stomach... Along with one of her legs that has been entangled with his...

She also realized that she's not on her own futon, but on his... and that she had moved from her own bed to his when she was sleeping.

In an instant, she decided to remove her arms and legs from Shirou's body, slowly, subtly, as to not let him wake up...

Afterwards, she scooted over to her own futon, covered herself with the red blanket, and began to close her eyes in an attempt to go back to sleep...

...

Of course, her effort then went unrewarded...

Once again, she found herself in a difficult position to sleep. On one hand, after seeing what she had just seen in her dream, there's a part of her mind that wanted to prevent herself from sleeping, lest that... that _woman _was there again.

On the other hand, she is tempted to try and snuggle with Shirou.

She felt... she felt comforted with Shirou, she knew that when he hugged her to help her sleep when the first dream came to her.

But despite this knowledge, she also tried to keep her hands to herself. After all, she's just his Servant, not really his significant other or something similar. And so, she must not be too attached to him.

...

But what if that's the very thing that she _wanted_ to do...?

She then began to cover her ears and clenched her eyes even tighter to get the thought of the notion out from her mind. And once again, the Servant of the Sword tries to go to sleep despite the raging sea that is the situation of her mind.

...

* * *

...

As the sunlight had just begun to seep through the windows and hit Shirou right in his eyes, the redhead had already woken up seconds before the sun even fully rises.

During his sleep, he had felt someone snuggling with him, but before he could really wake up, the feeling was gone and he had drifted off to sleep again. 'Was it...?'

So he turned towards the blonde woman, whose back is currently facing him and making him unable to see whether or not she's really sleeping...

"...Saber?" he asked.

...

"...Yes?" she responded with a weary voice.

Somehow, Shirou was not surprised that she's awake. But what confused him is the fact that she's acting like she's still sleeping for some reason... "...I... ...(sigh), Never mind... I'll go and take a bath first." he said as stood up from his bed and began to leave the room...

...

While on her part, Saber merely grumbled something unintelligible under her breath. She had unconsciously rolled over to and snuggled with him during her sleep. And when she woke up, she was unable to go to sleep due to her desiring the comfort that Shirou could provide conflicted with her mindset as to how she should act.

"Damn you..." she cursed the face of that pale woman who haunted her dream...

...

_"Your condescension towards me is very much appreciated."_

_..._And Saber's eyes widened when that voice _replied _to her in that sarcastic tone of voice that seems to mock her.

'...What is this...? What's happening to me?'

...

* * *

...

When Shirou was changing his clothes to his school uniform, he recalled a strange thing that happened with Saber.

_"Shirou. I shall be in the dojo when you need me."  
_

She informed him of that while he was taking a bath. Luckily she didn't intrude his privacy by entering, but her telling him that, by itself, was a rather strange thing to be done by the Servant.

'Hm... I wonder if it's because of...'

His train of thought was interrupted when he realized that Taiga-nee and Sakura would arrive soon. Resolving that he would ask her later, he then quickly went to the kitchen after he wore his school uniform to prepare some breakfast for his guardian and underclassman, along with the still absent Saber.

After a few minutes of preparing, he was almost finished with the dishes when...

"Shirou! I have arrived!"

...That spelled trouble... She sounded as if she's proclaiming a challenge... to his knowledge, she had done the same thing only once... against his former mentor. And _that_ was a _massive_ blunder on her part.

He sighed as he put down all his cooking apparatus that he had been using as he then went towards the door and slide it open...

...

And true to what he had pictured, there was the tiger... wearing the traditional white kimono and black hakama along with wielding a wooden shinai that she had pointed to the ground, confirming his suspicion.

"...Fuji-nee... why are you donning that attire?" Shirou asked wearily.

"I am here to figure out whether or not Arturia-san is a good person!" she answered without any hesitation and as loudly as she can be, that is to say a lot. "So I hereby challenge her to a duel!"

Shirou could only shook his head, already expecting that his guardian would do the most feasible of options to gauge Saber's trustworthiness, seeing that she had already done so in the past with his mentor.

Though she lost in the end because of his far more superior skill at swordplay, she found respect for the man then and there, because there was no trick in his method, just a quick disarming of her shinai provided by excellent footwork, eye-to-hand coordination, and his exceptional strength.

And considering that Saber was also not a normal human being... he knew that she's once again in a lost cause.

"Where is she now, Shirou?" she asked him.

"..." Shirou was silent as he pondered on how he should approach this matter, 'I could just tell her to not do it, but she's damn persistent... she'll challenge Saber anyway, whether or not I'm here... Well, here goes nothing...'

"I'll show you where she is Fuji-nee, follow me."

Despite Saber's absence, there was only one place in his house that he knew where she would go, considering the current status of her mind.

That is, the small dojo that he had.

While inwardly, he wondered why Sakura was not with his guardian today... Could it be that she's in trouble? A trouble instigated and performed by that creature?

Unconsciously, Shirou clenched his fist in anger. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

If it were true... Well, then that creature had just sealed its fate.

...

Arriving at the dojo, Taiga and Shirou saw the blonde woman, Saber, or Arturia, sitting in a seiza position, her back facing them and her head was slightly tilted downwards.

Now, Shirou, being one of the only two person in the dojo who actually had some semblance of tact compared to the tigress, was about to call Saber politely using her name and tell her about Taiga's challenge.

"Arturia-san! I, Taiga Fujimura, Shirou's guardian, hereby challenged you to a duel! What say you?!"

...Of course, that did not work. And he never expected that he would be able to explain to Saber about Taiga's challenge rationally before the woman blurt it out all by herself anyway...

So he could only sigh and said; "Saber... Fuji-nee would like to conduct a one-on-one combat with you to gauge your personality through the sword, is that alright with you?" he said the things that he had wanted to say before Taiga yelled it first with a weary tone of voice.

However, at the first few seconds, Saber didn't reply, but then, she stood up, and grabbed the shinai that, as it turns out, had been placed in front of her since the beginning, before she turned towards them...

Her expression was... somewhat scary to Shirou, it's as if she's channeling her inner rage or something similar, her green eyes that usually held nothing but austere expression was changed into one filled with negative emotions, such as the barely restrained rage, physically visible frustration, and a tinge of despair added for good measure.

"...I accept." she answered simply, without any questions asked. But Shirou knew that she had agreed on the spot because she's desperately looking for an outlet to vent all of the accumulated feelings inside her.

In fact, Shirou assumed that was the reason why she already had that shinai. She had been looking around for a sword of some kind in the dojo, and when she found one, she was about to practice her skill after some time meditating.

The tiger, however, failed to see this, as she grinned and said; "Very well Arturia-san! Be warned though, I will not go easy on you."

"As will I." Saber nodded with a smile, a smile that looked rather expectant, as if hoping that she would give a good fight.

...

**"CLANG!"**

Of course, the battle did not last long.

Taiga's eyes were wide as she found herself beaten, a mere three seconds after the match had just begun!

"...W-w-w-w-wha... wha...?"

"...The winner is... Arturia." Shirou stated with a deadpan tone of voice as if he were the bored referee who already knew the outcome of the battle before it even begun. He then sighed and said; "Are you okay Fuji-nee?"

...Well, to say that her face is filled with happiness would be a lie. Taiga Fujimura had never been beaten at kendo before, except for that one occasion involving his mentor, and now, with Saber.

So it was no surprise that she is taking this quite hard, especially when Saber didn't even bother to be tactful and just go with her fullest.

And so, in an attempt to console his guardian, Shirou tapped her on the shoulder and said; "Fuji-nee, I've already prepared some breakfast for you, take some extra servings if you want, okay?" he said in a soft voice.

Taiga then looked at Shirou with teary eyes before enveloping him in a bear hug, "Shirou... truly, you are a good child!" she said as gutsy as she could muster.

After a few seconds, Taiga then exited the dojo with slightly hunched back, a sign of the shock of being beaten so thoroughly and so quickly that made her so depressed.

Shirou shook his head with a sigh before he turned to Saber, who looked rather displeased, both because she was unable to truly vent her frustration and because of herself, who did not even give his guardian a chance to retaliate by defeating her so quickly.

"Arturia, what's wrong?" Shirou asked.

"...I'm sorry Shirou." she said, "I... I shouldn't have done that, I should've given her a chance to fight."

He could tell that she really regretted what she had done, but he also noticed that she's still avoiding the topic of what's really bothering her.

So he walked towards the shinai that his guardian had left behind, took it into his hand, and began to swing it around to get the feel and the weight of the wooden sword.

...

The Water Dance.

It was the term used for one of the types of swordsmanship that his mentor had taught him. The philosophy of the style was that the movement of the blade must mirror the way water flows through everything.

There were no crevices that it could not penetrate. There were no openings that it could not pierce through. There were no shape that it cannot mimic once it filled them. There was nothing that could withstand its force, slowly or quickly, everything can be consumed by its sheer tenacity.

In essence, The Water Dance required its practitioners to be like torrents of water. Strong, firm, flexible, could alter the flow of the battle at the speed of thought if needs be, and capable of bringing one's enemy to one's flow. And therefore, nullifying the enemy's power in the maelstrom that is The Water Dance.

For one to follow its philosophy, the swordsmanship require one's physique to be enduring. For it required constant movements without fatigue.

And stamina was something that Shirou had in abundance.

After he finished, seemingly satisfied with how the shinai felt in his grasp, he then turned to Saber with a smile and said; "Fancy a spar, Arturia?" he challenged her.

She raised her eyebrows at his challenge, somewhat tempted to accept it too, "Shirou, what do you intend to do here?" she asked.

In response, he merely shrugged and said; "You look like you need an outlet to vent out your frustration, whatever they may be." he answered, "Fuji-nee didn't do so well, so why not me?"

_"Hm. Why not? Let's see how his skill with a simple sword would fare against yours. Hmph, not that I expect much out of you, a so-called knight who didn't even give a talented, yet clearly outclassed enemy a bit of pride and humiliate her just because you're frustrated... such a chivalrous and noble knight you are."_

Acting as if she did not hear that voice, Saber then said; "...Very well Shirou." She gripped her shinai with her two hands, gazed upon the redhead who noticed her problems and is trying to get her to be honest with both herself and him... and then she said; "Are you ready?"

But instead of gripping his shinai with both hands like Saber did, Shirou merely used his one hand, and then he said; "Anytime."

Then, Saber charged with her superhuman speed, she was about to disarm him like he did with the tiger.

Shirou's immediate counter was to use his shinai to alter the flow of her attack, he first blocked it, and then in that same second, he used the momentum to change the course of Saber's attack as if it was following the flow of Shirou's movement naturally.

As the end point of saber's shinai was brought down to the ground by Shirou and created a loud thud, she turned to her Master with a look of surprise, and she found him smiling at her.

But then, he withdrew his shinai's hold over Saber's, he took a couple of steps backwards before he then charged at Saber with a thrust of his shinai.

Saber reacted by deflecting his shinai, but Shirou merely used the power behind her movement that deflected his first attack to rotate his body three-hundred and sixty degrees clockwise to attack Saber's right side.

Despite his fast movement, Saber blocked his attack. But the second it was blocked, he changed the trajectory of his attack upwards. Brought along with his movement, Saber unwittingly pointed her shinai upwards for a split second.

And that was enough for Shirou to quickly rotate his body clockwise again to advance towards Saber, and he then placed the shinai perpendicular to Saber's side, indicating his victory.

Saber could only gape in surprise, she found his face so close to him for a quick few seconds before he took a couple of steps backwards again. Then after he was quite a few feet away, he said to her; "Once more?" he asked with the same reassuring smile still plastered on his face.

Somehow, Saber found herself smiling as well when she saw his, she then adopted a combat-ready posture and said with a lot more resolve and less frustration; "Once more."

Then they clashed again, Saber being the one who initiate the first attack like before.

And like before, She found herself being countered with his swordplay that made her attack flow in the direction that she didn't intend to. His movements were like water, flexible, dextrous, and seemingly unaffected by Saber's strength as he was able to alter the course of her attacks so easily.

She noticed that he only Reinforced his body slightly, perhaps to cope with her strength, but he compensated his lack of durability with his agility and dexterity.

The flow of the battle was completely and utterly controlled by him, it was as if he's dancing. With the wooden swords as the extension of their body, Shirou led Saber to follow his pacing, his dance, his passionate maneuvers, they brought Saber to a battle that felt so relieving and it allowed her frustration and anger be washed away with every strike as Shirou welcomed them with his sword dance.

Though the clashes of their shinai resounded over the dojo as if they were a piece of brilliant music, Shirou and Saber were completely silent, Saber were using the fight to release her pent-up feelings, while Shirou merely reciprocate the feelings relayed into her every movement.

And both of them were smiling throughout the 'dance', clearly enjoying the friendly physical bout that had really helped easing the tension that Saber had caused between themselves due to her reluctance of wanting to speak to Shirou about her...

...Suddenly, the calmness of her mind was once again interrupted as she remembered the reason why she was so reluctant to speak with Shirou.

_"Too deep in your reverie are you? Do not forget why you're so afraid of sharing your burden."_

Suddenly, she began to increase the ferocity of her attack, trying in vain to ignore the voice inside herself.

_"Such a coward you are to be afraid of being judged... and you dare call yourself a King?"_

Saber gritted her teeth as she began to call more and more of her strength to every single one of her attacks, never noticing how Shirou's smile leaving his face and the sudden change in his eyes as he too noticed her change in demeanor.

_"You're never brave enough to face yourself. Never brave enough to admit that you are not without flaw. And that was the reason why your country fell."_

"...shut... up...!" she uttered out under her breath, which, despite being quiet enough, was audible enough to reach Shirou's ears.""

_"Despite what you said, you never really threw away your human self. You unconsciously and desperately cling to it, and in the end, your reluctance to do what's necessary caused Britain's downfall."  
_

"Shut... up...!" her voice began to increase in volume, and with it, her anger bubbled up to the surface again as she's failing to keep herself calm.

_"You saw what I did. You saw how committed I was to the path that you and I once walked, and do you know what it got me?"_

Saber didn't want to hear the voice's answer, she once again tried to ignore the mocking tone of the familiar voice that echoed in her mind.

_"Britain never fell. Britain's enemy were all vanquished, and my kingdom lasted for more than a millennia. All because of my commitment."_

'You slaughtered many innocents in your warpath!' Saber tried to argue, finally fed up with the voice's constant ridicule, 'Your bloody way caused Excalibur to... to become... that... that thing! Don't you dare imply that you're better than me!'

_"At least I didn't regret what I have become. A King has many luxuries, but regretting his regime is not one of them. And I have accepted that fact long ago." _answered the voice. _"While you...? Hmph, you're just a little girl."_

Tears began to form in Saber's eyes as the voice spoke the nearly similar words that the War's previous Rider had said to her.

_"You are but a little girl who thought herself as King. A little girl who gained the loyalty of his subjects, and managed to fail them because you were torn between your desire to be both a human and a king. A little girl who selfishly wished to erase the past and therefore the future, so that _your_ own desire can be enacted, never once did you think about the repercussion of your wish. You. Are not. King."_

She gritted her teeth, her tears began to cloud her vision, the redhead in front of her became a slight blur in her eyes.

_"You are nothing but a girl with empty ideals and an egotistical wish."_

No longer able to withstand it, the sound of Saber's scream that is filled with anguish echoed in the dojo as she lifted her shinai upwards to attack Shirou with all her might...

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...!"

But this time, Shirou jumped backwards to avoid it instead of blocking or re-directing it like he had been doing, knowing that Saber would use this one attack to release all the pent-up frustration from her problem.

**"CRACK!"**

Her shinai had been broken into two pieces due to the amount of force that she used as it hit the wooden floor of the dojo... but she still grasped the handle of the wooden sword tightly as her head was tilted downwards. She breathed rather heavily, not out of physical exhaustion, but out of the stress that had been accumulated in her mind.

Silence then filled the little dojo, the redhead and the Hero-king did not spoke a word for a good few seconds and the situation got a little bit awkward and tense at the same time.

Then, Saber heard the sound of Shirou's footsteps, echoing throughout the dojo, and was an indication that he was walking towards her in a calm manner.

Then the next thing she felt was his warm hand softly caressing her cheek and wiped her tears away using his finger.

She looked up, and found herself staring at Shirou's solemn expression, his eyes were filled with nothing but his genuine care for her... And once again, she found herself in a position where she could once again try to do what she had failed to do yesterday.

But no voice came out, all there was was the slight opening of her mouth, and the words that she wanted to speak were hitched in her throat.

However, it was Shirou who first broke the silence, "Saber... is there something that you would like to talk about?"

...That question again... Even though he could order her using his Command Seal, even though he could argue that if she didn't tell him what's wrong could cause their loss, he still asked... because he had been prioritizing about what she wants.

If she didn't feel like telling him, then there's nothing to talk about... She understood his angle now.

And so, with this knowledge in mind... Saber made a decision.

Giving Shirou a nod, she then answered...

"Yes."

...

* * *

...

Arriving at the school, Tohsaka Rin once again felt the sickening feeling that is the malignant Bounded Field that had been placed in the school grounds.

Archer had been somewhat reclusive the other night, he wasn't there when she arrived at her home and her calls went unanswered. The red knight only showed his presence after morning arrived, and even then, he was somewhat vague as to what he had been doing in his absence.

Though he only gave a passing mention that he was scouting the area, she wasn't that gullible enough to completely believe that to be the genuine case. Archer had been rather secretive ever since he was summoned, and it gave her the impression that he might know more about what's going on with his memory and the War than he let on...

She's beginning to lose her trust for him... and his liberal use of Independent Action didn't help matters either...

_"Hey, did you hear what happened last night...?"_

Rin's ears perked up at the whisperings that she heard as she entered her classroom.

_"Yeah yeah! About the latest attack at the park right?"_

...Ah, the Servant and Master pair had caused another victim... Rin idly wondered who was the poor fellow that they got this time.

_"Yeah! I heard that Mitsuzuri-sempai wasn't allowed to go to school for a time being by her parents. Said that they were worried."_

'...Ayako was attacked?' Rin thought as her eyes widened slightly.

It looks like the Servant and Master had made this personal for her... The captain of the Archery club is one of Rin's closest friend, a rival to her competitive self and someone whom she can confide in almost everything.

No matter the reason, whether she was there at the wrong time or that it was deliberate on the attacker's part, the desire to, in Emiya Shirou's words, -bring some karmic retribution up his ass-, began to grow at a really fast rate.

Especially if the reason turned out to be the latter. Then in that case, the scale of retribution would have to be kicked up to several notches.

...That reminded her... she's currently in an alliance with the redhead. An alliance that would serve as her key of temporary safety, considering that Archer's injury was only seventy percent healed.

The idea of the alliance also reminded her that they're supposed to meet at the rooftop after school to share information about the identity of the Servant and his or her Master. And hopefully he got something that could lead them to him, because she had nothing that she could give...

As she placed her backpack on her table and sat on her chair, she began to ponder about the current situation of the Holy Grail War, more exactly, about the current known roster of the Master and Servant duos.

There's her and an Archer who doesn't have any memory about his lifetime. There's a Lancer whose Master's identity, along with his true name is not yet known. An Einzbern representative whose Mad Servant is the most renowned mythological hero in the world, Herakles. A certain rival of hers who is most likely a Master of a Servant that had yet to make their appearance. A Servant of unknown class and Master who had been terrorizing young girls on the immediate area...

And finally, there's the impossible Magus named Shirou Emiya and his Saber...

So that means that the classes that were accounted for are Archer, Saber, Lancer, the three knight classes, along with Berserker, the Mad Warrior.

Servant of the Mount, Spell and Shadow are not known as of yet...

...And not to mention the impossible Servant who called herself Gilgamesh... the ancient king of the city-state of Uruk.

Her presence means that there are seven Masters and Eight Servants for this War... an uneven number, and the factor that made her rather apprehensive about the potential repercussion of such number of heroes pitted against each other.

Even though the War is supposed to be secret, there's at least one participant who just didn't care much about secrecy and attack people at night and take their Od for their Servant's sustenance... This person must be stopped.

Because there's already too much casualties, and the number of the victims had already broken the threshold of the most permissible collateral damage that she could stomach.

...

* * *

...

_Later that afternoon..._

Twelve o'clock, right on the dot. The time when the majority of Rin's schoolmates are going to eat their lunches, whether it's from the canteen or from their own home-made lunches that they have brought.

Rin, on her part, didn't bring anything for herself to eat. She woke up rather late in the morning and so she was not able make something that she could bring to and eat at school.

Though Archer had been absent once again, he did leave some breakfast for her to eat. So in the end, it wasn't all that bad.

She was about to go over to the canteen to buy some food when a figure approached her directly from the front.

It was Shirou, his bearing was different than how he usually presents himself at school, his gait was sure and filled with strength behind his every step, his back straight and was not slightly hunched as usual. And when his amber eyes met her blue ones, she saw that there was a fire behind that gaze of his.

When he was a couple of feet away from her, he then said; "Tohsaka, is it okay if we meet at the rooftop now?" he asked her.

She raised her eyebrows at the question, "Huh? What do you mean?"

Then he bowed slightly so that his head is on the same level as hers, then he moved his head closer to her ears and whispered; "I encountered the Servant that placed this Bounded Field when she attacked Ayako."

Rin's eyes widened, and she whispered back; "Really? Who is she? What's her ability? What class is she?" she asked the questions consecutively and without any delays.

"I can't exactly tell you all of that in here with all these people around, can I?" he asked back, "So what do you say about meeting at the rooftop five minutes from now?"

She instantly nodded, "Yeah, sure. ...But what's the five minutes gap for?"

"I brought some lunch." Shirou answered quickly, "I got an extra for you in case you want one."

"...I'll take one."

"Great. See you at the rooftop." And with that, he parted and began to walk back towards his classroom and leaving Rin alone.

She was about to walk towards the rooftop when she heard the whispers around her, and she nearly cursed out loud as she realized what that conversation must've looked like from an outsider's perspective who did not understand the context.

"Wow... what was that there, Rin?"

She turned towards the sound of the voice, and saw the figure of Kaede Makidera, her rambunctious friend who was... not really good at nearly anything, but yet her determination and her vigor are her redeeming value. The chocolate-skinned girl smirked as she then said; "I never knew that Shirou Emiya is your type of a guy."

Rin could barely keep her blush from spreading as she then responded with; "You're wrong Kaede, he was just asking me to meet him at the rooftop."

"A rendezvous with a fellow student of the opposite sex in one of the most reclusive places in the school?" asked Himuro Kane, the gray-haired, bespectacled girl who was the brain counterpart to Kaede's brawn, "Sounds like a dalliance to me."

...Damn it, that only made things worse! "No! We just want to talk about something, something important!"

"Um... it's okay Tohsaka-san. Emiya-san seems like a good person." said Yukika Saegusa, the 'heart' of the trio, the one who seemed the most meek yet the most compassionate amongst the three.

"And I told you it's nothing like that!" Rin replied hotly.

"Aww! I think Little miss perfect here is shy~! How cute~!" proclaimed Kaede with a playful grin.

"Indeed." Kane said as she adjusted her glasses, "It's very apparent, Rin. There is no need for you to hide it. After all, just like what Yukika said, Emiya Shirou is not a bad person. It's rather understandable why you like him so."

Yukika nodded in agreement, "Exactly. He's... well, at least he's not like Shinji-san..."

"Geez, can't you mention someone else that might be more fitting to be compared to Emiya?" asked Kaede. "The guy is the _exact _opposite of that jerkass."

"W-well... I'm just saying..." Yukika said meekly.

"What we're trying to say is that if you _do _have a relationship with Shirou Emiya, then there is no reason to hide it." Kane said, "Now, I believe that we have been inconveniencing you long enough, isn't that right, Kaede?"

"Ha? What are you talking about? We stil-"

**"Whump!/Krrk!"**

A swift kick to her shin, courtesy of the gray-haired girl was enough to shut the chocolate-skinned girl up, and then Kaede said with barely concealed pain as she clutched her injured leg and shaking rather profusely; "...R-right... sorry to bother you... R-Rin..."

She conveyed a silent thank you to Himuro before she went on her way, while not missing the silent gesture that conveyed; 'good luck!' from Yukika.

Though she had made a slight slip-up, she wasn't that uncomfortable when his face was so close to hers, and that it was quite... pleasant.

She shook her head to concentrate on the matter at hand, which is the fact that Shirou Emiya knew the Servant that had been attacking people at night, including Ayako.

Though sometimes, she couldn't help but be reminded of how physically close the two of them were...

And nothing, not even a crazy amount of head-shaking could make that go away.

...

* * *

...

Shirou arrived at the rooftop exactly five minutes after she arrived there first, bringing two lunch boxes, one of them undoubtedly intended for her.

The redhead then gave one to her, and then both of them began to eat the rather delicious lunch.

It... tasted very good. To say the very least... Once again, she found a similarity between Archer and Shirou. One of them was that they're very stubborn, Shirou with his insistence to not see Rin as an enemy, and Archer with his continuous usage of Independent Action to do what he deemed as important without her acquiescence or at least her begrudging agreement.

Both of them are _very _good at cooking. To the point that she really covets their skill so that she would be able to at least use that skill to open a restaurant to improve her family's financial status.

...Or, use both of them as her own head chefs in a restaurant in which she's the owner...

Hm, not a really bad idea, if she have to say it herself.

After they finished their lunch, Rin said; "Thanks for the lunch, Emiya-kun."

"You're welcome." He responded as he took the now empty lunch box back.

"So, now that we're here, tell me about the Servant that had attacked Ayako." Rin said to Shirou, "What does she... she right? What does she look like?"

He then described the purple-haired Servant to Rin and what exactly happened at that time, who then began to mull over the information that had been given by Shirou. "Hm... but, you didn't fight her?"

"No. My priority at the time was to save Ayako, and besides, Sakura was there too, I just couldn't leave her as well."

...Sakura.

"...Right, well... About that, I thought that you only knew some low-level spells including Tracing. So how did you heal Ayako? When you came to her, she was already bitten by that Servant and could not last for long right?"

"I have something up my sleeve." Shirou answered, "It was more than enough to restore her Od back."

"Mind telling me what it is?" Rin asked, assuming that he wouldn't tell her but resolved to ask him anyway. Her curiosity got the better of her.

"It was the work of the conceptual weapon placed within me."

...Wait a minute. What the HELL?!

"W-what did you say?!"

Shirou sighed as he then said; "Seeing that we're allies, I guess it would be best to be honest." the redhead answered; "I have a conceptual weapon inside of me. It has the ability to reject any kind of wound, and I channeled its energy to heal Ayako."

Okay, this guy is just too much! Is there anything _else _that he didn't have?!

"W-w-where did you get yourself a conceptual weapon? And how could it be inside of you?!" yelled Rin, demanding to know the answer.

"It was my father's doing." answered Shirou, "Do you remember that great fire ten years ago, Tohsaka? On that day, on that place, I met and was saved by my father... He placed the conceptual weapon within me to save me from dying."

That calmed her down slightly, "O-oh... You're... you're one of the survivors of that flame?"

She could vividly remember the sight of the great flame that illuminates the night of Fuyuki City ten years ago, an abnormally created flame, something so powerful, so vicious, so unforgiving, that even though she had been more than a few hundred meters away from the ground zero, she had felt the feeling of _death _that the fire had exuded.

To think that the redhead had survived that scale of destruction... Such a thing would not leave someone unscathed, be it physically or mentally.

"One of the very few." answered Shirou, "The conceptual weapon that my father had brought along with him then saved me. Although... I did not know that it was the reason why I'm still alive for a time."

"So... your father then decided to tell you about it after a couple of years?"

"Yeah... After my mentor told me first."

Ah, this mysterious mentor figure of his... The one able to enact a variation of Third Magic to materialize his Magic Circuits... How his true identity really bothered her so. Who is he? _What _is he? How powerful is he? The more he's mentioned, the more mysterious he become.

"My father then told me the truth after I confronted him." Shirou continued, "To save me, he instilled it within my body so that its healing power could restore me. And from then on, the conceptual weapon becomes a part of me. And it allowed me to heal someone if it's power is as its peak."

"...What's the name of the conceptual weapon?" asked Rin.

"It's... its name is Avalon."

"...The dreamed Utopia of King Arthur..." Rin uttered out in sheer disbelief, "A damn Noble Phantasm is inside of you? Emiya-kun, you are just unbelievable."

She then sighed exasperatedly and then muttered out; "...So... Wait a minute, if you healed Ayako by using that, doesn't that mean that Sakura watched you?"

He nodded, "Yeah. She saw me. But I don't think you should worry about it too much, she's a magus like us."

...Oh if only he knew...

"Really?" she faked her surprise, "How do you know that exactly?"

She watched his eyes narrowed at her for a split second, it's as if he knew that she was faking her surprise, but then it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. He then said; "She didn't immediately ask about what I did. I quickly came to the assumption that she knew about my status as a magus and asked her about it. Then I figured out that not only did she knew, but that the reason how she knew about me was because she's a magus as well."

"...Are you close with Sakura, Emiya-kun?" asked Rin.

Shirou nodded without missing a beat, "Yes. I can say that we are rather close." he answered bluntly.

Well... it's not as if she expected anything less from him... After all, from the way she had seen them talking to each other and walking home together after school's over, she wouldn't believe him if he told her that they're not close.

"Although..." Shirou began as his voice then turned serious and grim, "...Rin, as the Second Owner of the city, do you know anything about the one called Zouken Matou?"

"...I might." Rin answered succinctly, "Why do you ask?" she asked, wanting to know the reason why he wants to know about the old patriarch of the Matou family.

"I intend to kill him."

...Oh now he's just being ridiculous!

"What?" she asked with a flat tone of voice.

"That thing... the one you called Zouken Matou, I believe that he had been doing something terrible to Sakura." Shirou stated, "And seeing that she's absent... I fear for the worst..."

"Now what drew you to that conclusion, Emiya-kun?" asked Rin.

Inwardly, she's also a bit curious, the old man had always been a malignant enigma to her, supposedly, Sakura's adoptive grandfather was a couple of hundreds years old, but still alive somehow through some shady means...

Her father gave his trust to the old man due to him being the patriarch of one of the founding families, and he gave Sakura to him when she and Rin were young to avoid any complications due to Sakura being the second child...

Her little sister... Her father's own flesh and blood... As much as she had been trying to deny it to herself these past few years, there's a part of her that thought of the idea as somewhat abhorrent... but necessary.

After all, it wasn't like her family was the only family who had done it in the past. And they certainly won't be the last, her father just did what he had to do to make sure her family's standing, right?

But then, Shirou's answer brought down whatever virtuous value that she saw in what her father had done instantly...

"You know how I could smell the traces of magic exuded by someone, especially if it's powerful and elementally specific enough to make a certain odor?" Shirou asked in a rhetorical fashion, "When I met him, talking, smiling, and walking... Zouken Matou smelled like a corpse, a maggot-infested, putrefying, and exceptionally pungent corpse. That thing is _not_ human."

...Well, Rin had known that there _are_ certain forms of magecraft that could prolong one's life... And almost all of them involved certain changes to be made to the soul and body...

And most of the time, they're not very beneficial to their mental or physical health. As in the case of most Dead Apostles who willingly got turned... Not to mention that most of them had already been crazy _before _their transformation...

So why should it be any different to one Zouken Matou?

And why did she never see it until now?

But she responded his statement by saying; "Well, you have no proof that he's doing something to Sakura, so unless you have one, we can't just barge into his house and... and kill him."

"...You're right." Shirou said reluctantly, "You're right." he repeated himself, much more solemnly this time.

She huffed before saying; "Let's just focus on the current problem, shall we Emiya-kun?"

He nodded, "Yeah. The Servant problem."

"Right." Rin stated as she also nodded in response, "So, what's this Servant's class?"

"I'm going to rule her out of the Caster class outside of the ones that we know of." answered Shirou.

"Oh, so you don't know her class then?" Rin asked.

"No, but I assume that she's either a Rider or an Assassin." said Shirou, "But considering that we have not seen any of her Noble Phantasms other than this Bounded Field as of yet, it's hard to tell what's her class actually is."

"...But this Bounded Field looks like the work of a Caster, crude as it may seem." Rin argued, "There's no way a Rider or an Assassin can do something like this."

"Caster class, as you've told me before, mostly excels at Territory Creation, correct?" he asked rhetorically, "I assume that the Caster class would not be placing Bounded Fields on public spaces like this. No, they would remain immobile in a particular place where they would have the most advantage in defeating other Servants, not to consume people this way."

"But that just means that her Master is an inept magus." Rin said, "A Caster could've easily use her Territory Creation skill wherever she wants it to."

"Then tell me, if this Servant _is _Caster... Then why haven't we seen her in here yet?" Shirou asked.

"As I see it, with that kind of skill, a Caster would stay in the place where she had put her Bounded Field... So, she should be guarding this place, and confront us yesterday, when it's just both of us, like now, without our Servant to protect us. But yet she didn't attack us, despite the fact that this place would be the center of her power if this is her Territory... That makes me think that she's not Caster... but a Rider or an Assassin whose part of her legend is translated into this Bounded Field."

...That... actually made some sense.

"...You make a good point, Emiya-kun." Rin conceded.

"Thank you." Shirou responded in kind. "And I want to tell you something else, Rin." he added.

"What is it?"

"Tonight, Saber and I will be patrolling the areas of Miyama district where the possibility of an attack is high." he told her. "We're hoping to get them before they attack someone else. They've been at it for long enough... It's time to stop them."

Rin couldn't help but agree with the notion, "I agree. I'd help any way that I can, but..."

"Your Servant is not completely healed yet." Shirou said, "Sorry about that, I didn't stop Saber from attacking him."

"It's okay Emiya-kun." she meant what she said, "After all, she viewed me as an enemy then. Which, if I have to say it myself, was a good decision."

Shirou merely chuckled and said; "Well, I couldn't just let you die when I could do something about it, now could I?"

She had to clear her throat, "Regardless, I expect that you will do a good job at capturing this Servant. Let me know if you find yourself in a spot of trouble."

He nodded in affirmation. And Rin smiled appreciatively at that.

...

* * *

...

When Shirou was preparing himself to go home. His mind went back to the conversation that he had with Saber...

She had been having dreams about... possibilities... about the other King Arthur across the parallel universe whose reign was one that was ruled with an iron fist, a reign that was the exact opposite from hers.

Where there was a just kingdom led by a just king, there was a kingdom corrupted by a twisted parody of the concept of 'justice' led by a tyrannical king whose wish was to make the other neighboring countries leave hers alone... And the king did so by exerting her forces upon the continent of Europe and slaughtered many people.

Where there was an idealistic King with good intentions who was not completely understood by her subjects... There was a tyrannical, extremist King whose intentions was as good as her other self... But her methods were not as benevolent or virtuous.

And where there was a holy sword wielded by a chosen and eternally youthful king...

There was its twin... which also happened to be its polar opposite...

Shirou immediately realized the meaning of the sight that he had seen at his latest dream...

...

_There was a new sword embedded upon the red desert... A sword that mirrored the appearance of the one beside it, down to the very last detail..._

_But before his eyes... one of them warped and transformed into a sword as black as night... pulsing with demonic energy that glowed crimson... And it was a sword that gave him a slight amount of fear when his eyes laid upon its form..._

_Excalibur's Antithesis... The Bringer of Despair..._

_Excalibur Sanguine... the malevolent sword that had been fed numerous amount of blood to the point that it could no longer be recognized as what it once was... And that sword... belonged to the one called Arthur the Tyrant._

_..._

That dream had confused him slightly, as King Arthur's legend had always portrayed him, -her-, as a benevolent king... But when Saber told him about what's going on within herself, he immediately understood why he had that dream.

The summoning ritual was not perfectly done. In fact, there was an unknown factor that caused Arturia's other persona, in this case, her tyrant-self from another universe, to seep in.

And her other persona was _anything_ but helpful.

Saber had shared with him her thoughts and fears... Her other persona represented the alternative outcome of what would've happened if she faithfully followed her ideals to the bitter path.

She watched the tyrant killed her own friend, Lancelot, for his dalliance with Queen Guinevere... An action that Saber's own people had desired when they knew about what the knight did behind his King's back.

Where Saber gave forgiveness to the repentant knight... The alternate Saber executed him without mercy.

He had seen her fearful expression then... It was apparent that the thing the greatest King of Britain feared was her own self... her own corrupted, tainted self, who had terrorized the whole Europe out of the desire to protect her own people and subjugate those who sought to inflict harm upon them.

The Tyrant of Knights.

Shirou had given a name to this other persona, Saber Alter, the alternate Saber who represented the corruption that could've befallen her due to her... less than pleasant ideals...

Hearing her ideals had been a rather surreal experience for Shirou... They were rather... childish. He realized that fact. And they were also rather similar to his own. At least before his mentor helped him direct that ideal.

When she asked him to give his opinion on her ideals... he said this to her...

_"It has its virtues. But your ideals also has its flaws."_

It was his honest opinion, not as blunt as he would've preferred, but he had thought that he's not supposed to break her even more by saying that it was really stupid of her to have that kind of ideal.

After all, what he said to her was rather similar to what his mentor said to him when he told him about his ideals then... And hopefully, he wouldn't have to go to this point...

_"I'll be honest, Shirou. Your ideals are not good for you or for anyone involved in it. It will break your body, it will crush your spirit, it will destroy your bond with everyone that you know. _That's_ the scale of how bad it is."_

...Personally, he thought that it was the most powerful blow that his mentor had ever given to him. Nothing had ever come close to breaking him completely.

And so, he had decided to not do the same thing to Saber who had enough problems as it is with her alternate persona.

Though the situation with Saber and her Alter hasn't placed them in a disadvantageous situation yet, she feared that it would be detrimental to their chance of winning.

With no apparent solution to solve the Saber Alter problem, he decided that at least she could relieve the stress by searching for and fighting the Servant that has been terrorizing the neighborhood.

She instantly accepted. After knowing what the Servant had been doing, and him being a witness to one instance where he happened to know the victim, Saber's insistence to patrol the area of Miyama with him was not an unpredicted reaction.

Thankfully, she didn't ask how he managed to heal his friend. And because of that, she still had no idea that Excalibur's sheathe is contained within him.

He _will _tell her. However, considering what she had on her mind at the moment... it didn't seem like the perfect time to break the news to her.

After he finished packing his things, he was about to walk towards the school gate when...

...

'...Damn it.'

The thick smell of snake permeated the air... The mysterious Servant was there somewhere... At the moment when the school's student population is still at its peak, considering that the bell that signed the end of the day had just rung a few minutes ago.

Though his instinct to search and confront the Servant began to kick in, he subdued it and forced himself to remain calm.

Then, he began sniffing the air to find the Servant, subtly so that nobody would notice him doing so.

He calmly walked towards the source, ignoring those around him, and slightly hoping that none of them would become the casualties of the possible conflict that could happen in the next few minutes...

He went several floors up, towards the place where the scent was at its strongest.

As he walked, he couldn't help but notice that the floor had been vacated.

There must've been _something _that repelled people from being here, usually it involved some kind of magecraft, so it's possible that the Servant's Master was here to set it.

He walked towards the center of the scent. And as he traversed through the empty hallways, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he's being watched.

Well of course he's being watched. He's in the snake's den as it were. But the question was; Who's watching him? The Servant or the Master?

...

...It's her.

He swiftly turned his body around to see the spot that his back had been facing.

And he saw that there was the purple-haired Servant, her long hair that nearly touched the ground moved slightly as if it were being blown by the non-existent soft breeze...

The Servant smirked before she said; "For someone so young, it looks as if your instinct has been thoroughly refined... I knew that you're not a simple human when we first met."

Shirou's amber eyes bore upon the Servant's blindfolded ones, and in a calm voice, he said; "I have many questions to ask you. Firstly, what class do you belong to, Servant?"

Her answer was instant, "Rider."

"And am I correct to assume that you are the one who placed this Bounded Field in the first place?"

"Yes." she once again answered it instantly.

Then, Shirou finally said this as his last question; "Are you here to kill me?"

"...Yes."

After confirming what she's about to do, Rider crouched like a quadrupedal predator ready to pounce her prey, summoned a single nail-like dagger equipped with chains that is connected to her hand and _charged._

Reciprocating the challenge, Shirou then said...

"Trace On."

...

* * *

**End of Chapter 4**

* * *

Alright, with the promises of a future battle and a glimpse of an over-arching saga from a single sentence that some of you might not notice, this chapter is over.

By the way, I'm going to shed a little light on Shirou's mentor, you ready?

Alright, here goes...

Kischur Zeltrech Schweinorg knows this person. However, Shirou's mentor is not a part of the canon Type-Moon universe.

Kaleidoscope is a versatile Magic after all, the old Dead Apostle Ancestor knows many universes besides the one that was created by Type-Moon and, in my assumption, had visited several of them during the course of his existence as an immortal vampire.

However. While the universe from where Shirou's mentor came from is a universe that some or most of you might know, the events that happened within it might not be familiar.

...

Okay, let's just say that it might be possible that I'll create a new fanfic for this character alone. Not in the category of Fate/Stay Night of course.

So look forward to that whenever Heaven's Works is over.

Alright, see you at the next chapter.


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Type-Moon owns the Fate series.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

He just couldn't believe his misfortune.

When he was given control of Rider by his grandfather a couple of days ago through a lot of persuasion, -read: pestering-, he had a thought that it would be an easy ride for him.

After all, his sister wasn't willing to fight and his grandfather merely ordered her to summon a Servant because it was a tradition of one of the founding families in the case of a Holy Grail War. The old patriarch of Matou family didn't think that the current War was something important anyway.

So with the Book of False Attendant given by his grandfather, he would be able to act as a Master despite not being the one who summoned her. And the problem of Servant's prana consumption thanks to his lack of magic circuits to feed Mana to his Servant can be easily circumvented by Rider's nifty Noble Phantasm that could turn people into prana ready to be consumed.

However, there were some downsides to that little plan...

Firstly, the Bounded Field would take quite some time before it could be fully deployed. This problem was simple enough to solve, just use other people's Od, order her to feed on other people at night so that his Servant could get the mana she needed.

Simple, right? After all, her victims were not really worth his concern anyway. It was their fault for wandering around in shady places at night.

But when she attacked Ayako, the captain of the Archery club whom he didn't like yet not really hated so he didn't really see the problem with her being killed, he was nearby and not only watched his Servant at the middle of eating the poor captain's Od...

But he also watched the arrival of one Shirou Emiya.

Seeing him from afar had pushed him into hiding. Luckily, the redhead didn't know that he was there, so he got off the hook at that moment.

The redhead scared him so much. He's someone whom he tried to befriend in the past, mostly because Sakura was quite attached to him and to find his weak spots for him to exploit.

But the moment the redhead laid his eyes upon him, he looked at him with a glare that conveyed his disgust, annoyance, and distrust, and so he rejected his offer of friendship.

_"Find a friend somewhere else. I will give nothing of the sort to you."_

That was what he said to him when he greeted him with his friendly demeanor. Apparently, he was savvy enough to understand that the offer was not really genuine, and that he saw right through his cheerful mask...

...And it really pissed him off.

How dare he brushed him off like that?! He had been so tempted to punch him and duke it out then and there.

...But he didn't.

The reason why was simple as well...

He had no desire to die.

Shirou Emiya had exuded an aura that really scared him right off the bat, his amber eyes had flared, his pupils had shrunken down until it was nearly the size of a small dot, and Shinji had seen the flame behind his glare, his attempt to appear friendly was an act to try earning his trust, and it failed hilariously and he got spat in his face for even trying.

So when he saw that the redhead was also a magus, one who was powerful enough to restore the Archery club captain back to full health, he immediately realized that he's in way over his head.

Even more so when he saw Shirou trying to protect Sakura when he met his grandfather from inside the house.

Unlike himself, who's quite afraid of Zouken Matou to a degree, the redhead's glare was filled with nothing more than hatred. There had been no fear in his eyes back then, all there was was anger, and physically visible desire to destroy the old patriarch of the Makiri family.

And when Shirou left and Sakura got inside the house, he was told this by his grandfather...

_"Do not worry yourself over the boy... After all, there is nothing that you can do to even hurt him."_

Though the old worm did not say it, he clearly implied that he was nothing compared to Shirou Emiya.

A small part of him agreed with that. But the more ego-filled part of him said that his grandfather was wrong, and that he could, and will kill the redhead to send that point across the worm's rotting brain.

So he discreetly ordered Rider to get into the school to draw a bait and attack Shirou in public while he watched from a nearby, yet safe distance. Knowing, no, _hoping_ that he wouldn't use his magecraft in public and by proxy, allowing Rider to have an easy kill.

But his hope was completely broken with just two words...

"Trace On."

From there on, Shinji Matou's world, the place where he perceived himself as the unbelievably lucky, all-powerful, and unequally smart main character in a world where everything would go his way was utterly broken to several pieces...

...

* * *

...

The sound of clanging blades resounded over the school, shocking the present students and teachers alike.

"Hey, what is that?" asked a student to the other. "It sounds like somebody's fighting... with swords."

Then, the students and teachers located in a particular spot of the school where the sound of the bout was somewhat audible saw a red and black-colored blur that could barely be seen.

"H-hey, miss Tohsaka! Do not run in the hallway!" yelled one of the teachers who saw the red blur as Rin Tohsaka.

Rin didn't hear that warning however, as her mind is focused on the idiot who's currently fighting a Servant at daylight and creating a rather large ruckus among the school's population.

'Damn it, damn it, damn it!' Rin cursed his stupidity, she was sure that he, like her, noticed the Servant's presence. But she had decided to solve this in a calm and secretive manner.

That idea was quickly thrown out the window, crashed into the concrete, and then mercilessly stomped on by a stampede of elephants when the sound of the bout that the redhead was having with the Servant resounded over the school.

She would be lucky enough if she could come to the area where they were fighting fast enough to prevent them from making things worse...

**"CRASH!"**

...Of course, the sound of broken glass then threw _that_ idea out the window as well.

She changed her direction towards what was undoubtedly the sound of a destroyed window and saw...

...Well... to say that she saw something that really made her blood boil out of frustration and incredulity would be an understatement...

Because through the window right below the one that was broken, she saw the glimpse of the purple-haired woman that Shirou had described, jumping down, or to be more exact, hurled by something, and sending her towards the thick forest nearby the school grounds...

With the redhead following her closely by jumping off the building as well...

All visible to the eyes of those still present at the school.

'Goddamn it Shirou!'

...

* * *

...

Rider of the Fifth Holy Grail War found herself crashing into the ground and had to immediately react to the superhuman who had thrown her in the first place and was descending towards her position.

She deflected one of the chained twin-blades that he threw towards her head... Only to find its twin just a few feet away from her.

She held her tongue from cursing out in ancient greek and barely dodged the blade... The blade that held a familiar aura to it... It's as if she should be afraid of it for some reason...

'...And how could a simple human such as him were able to obtain such a weapon anyway? It doesn't make sense!'

The twin-blades were similar to her own chain-daggers, but they felt... alive somehow. Its history echoed through its physical attributes, and Rider could literally feel the power that was contained within the twin weapon.

'Noble Phantasm? Owned by a human being? Impossible!'

But despite how much she tried to deny what she felt, it was indisputable, this boy, this Shirou Emiya, was an anomaly to this war.

Now she understood why her Master really feared him, to the point where she could see that he had almost wet his pants when he arrived at the scene where she almost finished eating his schoolmate's Od completely.

Of course, the little coward would be afraid of anyone who's stronger than him. And there's a lot of those who fulfilled that criteria in this world...

And right now, on the very top of that list, was this boy...

Correction, this young man. This young man who so happened to be powerful enough to take on a Servant by himself.

His attacks were precise, but she could overcome that by her agility. His proficiency in the seemingly living twin blades were frightening, and her agility was not enough for her to be left unblemished as he managed to create small gashes on her person due to her inability to completely dodge them all in quick succession.

Fast. Precise. Powerful. This boy was a natural-born warrior, talented and trained in the art of combat.

Knowing her own nature, Rider knew that this boy was more than capable enough to hurt her, as he fit most of the criteria of those who hunt and kill monsters such as herself.

The purple-haired Servant leaped backwards with a twirl and footed herself in a tree branch, the red-head was already readying himself to jump to chase her.

She threw her chained dagger and it moved in a serpent-like way, and the boy leaped almost as quickly and gracefully as she did, and replied with a slash of his chained blades that extended itself and destroyed the branch that Rider had been standing on.

"Ck!" she clicked her tongue out of annoyance as she began to have another up-close combat with the boy who was clearly far stronger than a normal human.

As she agilely dodged his attacks, she could feel that he's nothing like the humans around him... his scent was rather powerful, a foreshadowing to the fact that he was a rather tough game for her to hunt and kill.

Especially when her stats were completely messed up thanks to her so-called 'Master''s incompetence. She barely did some damage to the boy who appeared to be using Reinforcement to his body in conjunction with the twin-blades, even with her blindfold, she could feel the amount of prana that he was using, and still, despite that, he wasn't exhausted, not at the very least.

Normally, her Monstrous Strength ability would've been enough to take care of the young man, or at the very least, it would've allowed her to fight him on even ground... but considering that her prana supply is minimal and her Strength had gone down a couple of ranks...

She had no choice but to do _that..._

Avoiding the unforgiving barrage of attacks performed by the redhead with a few wounds on her body left as a testament of how strong the redhead was, Rider then kicked things up a notch by releasing Gorgon Breaker... the Bounded Field that took the form of the blindfold that covered her Jewel-class Mystic Eyes...

No longer constricted by the Bounded Field... Rider gazed upon the boy with her cursed gray-colored eyes...

Cybele. The Mystic Eyes of Petrifaction. The source of the legend that made her known across the history of mankind...

She saw the boy's eyes widened before he was immobilized, and then his identical blades were broken into several pieces as it disappeared in a burst of light. Unable to move or do anything to protect himself or to attack her...

Yet, much to her surprise, he was not turned to stone by her gaze...

She was impressed. Not only that he was powerful enough to fight a Servant, but the boy's amount of prana allowed him to not become a slab of granite immediately from her gaze. But, it was enough for her to get a breather from the battle that had exhausted her a bit...

"Very impressive... I've really underestimated you." she said through her ragged breaths. "But you... are at my mercy now."

...

* * *

...

Shirou watched as the purple-haired Servant walked closer and closer to him with a rather confident gait despite her torn clothing and her bloodied cheeks.

He's completely petrified... Those eyes of hers... the way that they looked like jewels and not like how a pair of normal eyeballs looked... along with the square-shaped pupils showed how abnormal they were... They had the ability to freeze something, anything, in place, and he was caught in its grasp, allowing her to do whatever she want to do to him.

The redhead kept himself calm... Let her do her worst... The current situation wouldn't last that long...

She then stopped, merely a few inches apart from him, "Tell me, what's your name, boy?" asked Rider as she slightly tilted her head upwards because of his slightly taller body.

"Shirou... Emiya Shirou."

"Hm... quite strong you are, you know that? You remind me of someone that I fought long ago..." she said before her smile widened, as if teasing him, "Would you like to know who he was?"

Shirou, through his immobile state, managed to procure a rather cheeky smirk, and said; "...Perseus?"

He saw her eyes widened, and before she could say anything further, he continued, "This petrifying gaze of yours... Someone who knows quite a bit about the legends in Greek Mythology could instantly connect it with the legend of Medusa. And judging by that look on your face... I think my guess was spot-on."

He could tell that she didn't expect that he would know about her identity so quickly, and so, he heard her say; "Do not get cheeky. You may be able to deduce my identity, but do not forget who holds the other's life here."

Ah, such a rancorous threat meant that not only his guess was spot-on, but that he had earned her ire in doing so...

Way to go, Shirou! Just anger the infamous gorgon from greek mythology who's holding your life on her hands, that'll get you out of this mess.

"Considering that you have made me rather exhausted..." she then began to speak as she moved her head closer to his, "I think I'm going to have you compensate it for me..."

She then opened her mouth and moved it to his neck, she then bit it, drawing his blood with the intention of eating his Od like she had done to her other victims.

However, Shirou then mentally chanted this...

**...An awakened Sword... A realized Artifact...**

**...Forged from suffering... Created from death...**

**Intertwined as one...**

**Origin Seal... Release.**

On the back of his left hand, another tattoo materialized and glowed after he gave that command, a tattoo with the shape of a sword enveloped in a sun that glowed bright golden...

...

* * *

...

In the middle of her feeding, not yet filled with enough Mana to restore her stamina, Rider felt that pulse of prana that signaled Shirou's strange thaumaturgy that broke her hold over him...

Despite the impossibility of the feat, it was already too late for Rider to react accordingly...

"Grk!"

Rider was punched right on her stomach, quite powerfully as well... and it interrupted her from fully consuming Shirou's Od.

She then wisely chose to jump a few feet away backwards to avoid any further attacks... And she saw that the boy was slowly transforming, his red hair began to whiten, his amber-colored irises began to turn several shades lighter, and his skin became even fairer...

But then, before any of them could do anything else or before Rider could see the boy fully transformed, there came another intruder...

One armed with a single sword... made out of wind...

"HAAAA!"

...

* * *

...

Saber, donned in her battle dress, yelled as she landed on the battlefield and nearly got the purple-haired Servant with her Invisible Air. The purple-haired Servant managed to dodge, but she then found herself sitting on the ground thanks to her surprise entrance to the battlefield.

Unbeknownst to Shirou, when he left the house to go to school after she shared her problems and he offered to go on patrol, she had followed him to his school, mostly out of concern and...

...Well, he's her Master, she _had _to make sure he's safe. After all, his recklessness might end up to his death despite the amount of power that he held, so it's up to her, his Servant, to make sure that he would not dive head-first into battle like she knew he would.

_"Right. Keep telling that to yourself, little girl."_

...It might be rather redundant to say it, but she had nothing but absolute hatred for her alternate self.

Saber ignored the voice inside her head and placed herself in the middle of the Servant that Shirou had fought. "So you are the one who was responsible for those deaths."

The enemy Servant clicked her tongue in apparent frustration, her disheveled appearance suggested that she just had a bout with Shirou. Perhaps she did it due to her Master's order, considering the methods that she had used to gather Mana from other people's lifeforce, it felt rather uncharacteristic of her to attack head-on and caused her to feel Shirou's power firsthand.

Meanwhile, Rider acknowledged the fact that she was clearly outnumbered and outgunned, there was nothing that she could do but escape.

Before she could do that however, Saber put a stop to it as she swiftly moved towards her and placed Invisible Air onto the Servant's neck. Preventing her from even trying to run away. "Close your eyes, Servant." she ordered. And the purple-haired Servant complied begrudgingly as she placed Gorgon Breaker over her eyes again.

"Saber."

Hearing Shirou calling her title, she turned towards him, she saw that his hair, skin, and eye color were returning to its normal color.

She also saw the tattoo on the back of his left hand, it had similar appearance to a Command Seal, but its function was ultimately different. Its glow diminished and it faded away as Shirou regained his normal looks back.

While inwardly wondering what it was that she had just seen from him, she said to him; "What is it Shirou?"

"You had been following me, weren't you?" he asked.

"...Yes." she answered with a slightly bashful tone of voice.

Shirou sighed before he approached the two Servants, and then he touched Saber's shoulder and said; "Thank you for worrying about me."

"...It was nothing to be thankful of, Shirou. I'm merely doing my duty." Saber replied with a nod.

He nodded back before turning to the purple-haired Servant, walked closer to her, and said this; "Rider. Why did you take those people's lifeforce? Is your Master so inadequate that he can't provide you enough Mana to sustain yourself?"

There was a moment of silence before she replied; "That question... does not need to be asked."

Shirou merely smiled lopsidedly, "It _was_ rather redundant of me to ask, wasn't it?" he asked rhetorically, "Will you tell me your Master's name then?"

Rider was silent for a moment, but then, it was Saber who spoke first; "Shirou, you do not think that she would answer that question just because you asked, do you?" she asked him.

"No Saber. I think she would answer it because she is rather frustrated with her current Master." answered Shirou.

...

Rider could not help but to chuckle mirthlessly after hearing what the redhead just said, he could see right through her, even with her mask of a personality, he had seen right through her. 'And my idiot of a Master thought himself as superior to him...? Funny doesn't even begin to describe it...' she thought to herself.

Hearing her chuckle, Shirou then continued with; "What do you find so funny, Rider? Was my guess correct?"

Rider decided to not dignify that question with a response, be it negative or positive, as he already knew anyway. So instead, she said this; "If I tell you, what good would it give me? Nothing. You already have me at your mercy, with or without my Master's name, you would kill me anyway."

Shirou then said this in response to her retort, "Who knows? I might be tempted to let you go if you answer my questions."

Saber was shocked at her Master's admission, "Shirou, what are you doing? You're not really thinking about letting her go, do you?"

He merely turned to the blonde woman and said; "Based on how she answers the next two questions."

The redhead then turned to Rider again and asked; "First question, was it your idea to consume other people's Od to sustain your existence, or were you simply forced by the situation to do so?"

Her eyebrows scrunched in response, and then she answered; "It was done out of my Master's orders. He said that he's only concerned about collecting the energy from those people, he couldn't care less about their lives."

"...I see. I stand corrected." Shirou said it rather succinctly while his eyes narrowed in anger after hearing what she said. "Second question. If you were to have a more adept Master, would you choose the method that you have been doing so far to sustain yourself?"

She scoffed and said; "If that were the case, then we wouldn't be facing each other in this kind of situation, would we?"

"So no then." Shirou said succinctly. "Then this will be my last question... What is the name of your Master?"

Another tense silence fell upon the three combatants, but after a few seconds have passed, Rider gulped before she said; "...Shinji. Matou Shinji."

Shirou's response was to clench his fist tightly, narrowing his eyes even more, and gnashing his teeth, all done out of the anger that was beginning to increase within himself, "...I should've known."

He then turned to Saber and said; "She's free to go Saber."

"...Are you sure Shirou?" she asked.

He nodded, "I'm sure." But then, he turned to Rider and said; "You're free to go. But tell that blue-haired bastard this... If he decides to do something like this again, I will find him. And I shall not hesitate to kill him myself."

Rider gaped for a few seconds before she nodded, affirming his order out of her survival instincts.

She had thought that she had seen all that this boy could offer, his power, his keen insight, his powerful Servant...

But none of that scared her more than what she currently felt...

Which was his pure, undiluted anger, directed right at her Master... An anger so great that she could literally feel it on her skin.

As she went to astral form when Saber removed Invisible Air's pressure, she couldn't help but feel pity for her incompetent Master... This person was hopelessly far beyond his caliber.

...

* * *

...

"...Are you sure that was wise, Shirou?" asked Saber after Rider went away.

"...I let her go because it's clear that she's just following orders and the circumstances practically forced her to do such a thing." he answered, "Her Master is Shinji Matou, Sakura's... well, to say him as a brother would be an affront to all the kind siblings in the world. So let's just call him as the worthless man that he is."

Despite the lack of information, somehow Saber felt no need to ask the reason why he hated Rider's Master so much... His anger was justified considering what Rider had said. She was ordered, specifically ordered by his Master to feed on people's lifeforce, instead of the situation forcing them to do so. It was enough of a reason to hate him.

But, it also seemed that he had other reasons beside that to hate this Shinji Matou... What it was, she didn't know, but his hatred stemmed from something more than just from what Rider said.

"You...!"

The sound of a frustrated young woman made Saber and Shirou turn their heads toward the speaker...

And they found the clearly irate-looking Tohsaka Rin, looking slightly out of breath and leaning her body to a nearby tree, it was as if she had been participating in a triathlon or something so physically taxing.

"...Tohsaka?" Shirou unsurely began, seeing her furious expression made him somewhat afraid.

With narrowed eyes, Rin then began to advance towards Shirou, and when she was near enough to land an attack on the redhead...

**"Whomp!"**

...She kicked him right in his crotch.

However!

The aftereffects were felt by _both_ parties, Shirou and Rin ended up lying on the ground and clutching their injured parts, Shirou with his testicles and Rin with her shin.

"...damn you...! what's with those... balls of steel, huh...?!" Rin uttered out in pure frustration.

"...Reinforcement... ...out of instinct... can't help it...!" Shirou replied despite the pain on his testicles.

Saber sweatdropped as she's seeing the sight in front of her, it was quite an absurd situation that she had found herself into and like what anyone else would feel if they were in her position, she felt unsure as to what she should do...

_"Hmp. How unfitting of magi to act like children. However, this _is_ entertaining in its own way... Hilarious even."  
_

...Unsurprisingly, her alternate self didn't help matters once again.

And was that a small giggle that she heard?

...

* * *

...

"You worthless bitch!"

Rider remained passive despite facing her Master's anger and feeling of worthlessness. After all, it wasn't as if she didn't expect him to vent his anger on the wrong person, from what she had assessed from the redhead that she had been ordered to kill, her Master was genuinely and hilariously inferior compared to the boy that she had fought.

"What kind of a Servant are you?! How could you let him, a normal, worthless human, defeat you so easily?!"

Well, if he had been bothered enough to watch their fight, -which he clearly did saw. Even if he only saw the beginning of the fight, he should've seen him summoning a pair of very powerful swords to fight her.-, he would know that he's not normal, and clearly not worthless.

However, Rider did not voice her thoughts out loud, as she then said; "He was stronger than I had expected, Master. It will not happen again."

"Like hell it would." Shinji said, "...Why did he let you go? I thought his Servant came by and they ganged up on you." he asked, this time more concerned for his safety.

Rider held back a smirk from appearing in her face as she then answered; "He gave me two questions, and if I answered it correctly, he would let me live."

"...What did he ask?"

"He first asked me whether it was my idea to sustain myself from absorbing other people's Od or the situation forced me to." Rider answered, "My answer to that question was that you're the one who ordered it."

Shinji flinched, knowing that it was indeed true. And Rider could feel his fear leaking off of his body, "...What's the other question?"

"Knowing the answer to the first question, he then asked me that if I had a more competent Master..." She could feel Shinji flinching again but keeping his unspoken words to himself, "...would I still be taking people's lifeforce to sustain myself."

...

After a few seconds without any continuance, Shinji then gritted his teeth and said; "And what did you say to him?"

"...I said that I wouldn't be at his mercy then if that were the case."

...So she implied that the answer was no.

Before Shinji could berate her or doing something similar or worse, Rider said this to stop him from doing so; "My answers were enough for him to let me go. But before I left, he then asked me to deliver this message to you, Master."

"If you decide to do something like this again, he will find you. And he will not hesitate to kill you himself."

Shinji was petrified by fear. The effect wasn't exactly the same as what her Mystic Eyes could do, but it was rather close. She was somewhat pleased that Shirou's threat was enough to make him quiver like a cornered and helpless prey.

"H-hu-humph! He, he could try! H-he won't be able to touch me!"

'...That would've convinced me if you weren't shaking and stuttering so much.'

That was Rider's unspoken thought, she kept it to herself due to the amusement she's feeling at seeing the incompetent magus fearing for his safety.

"R-Rider... remove your Bounded Field from the school when there's no one at school. We're going to find someplace else where you can eat a large amount of souls." said the fearful Matou.

At that moment, Rider felt that she must give her gratitude to the redhead named Shirou Emiya if, for whatever reason, they become allies in the future. It was quite a delightful feeling to see her inept Master being so afraid like this.

...

* * *

...

"There was no other choice Tohsaka. I _had _to fight her if I want to live." Shirou said resolutely in the face of one really angry Tohsaka Rin.

Currently, they're both at Shirou's house. Shirou, Rin, and Saber were convening in the dinner table, Shirou and Rin were facing each other while Saber had positioned herself in the middle of the two magus who were arguing like an old married couple.

"But did you _have _to be seen like that? Can't you at least show a bit of subtlety?!"

When Rin and Shirou managed to withstand the pain that they've inflicted upon each other, the dark-haired girl's first action was to drag Shirou away from the scene and escape the school relatively unnoticed by everyone.

However, perhaps there were some people who saw him with Rin and a foreign blonde woman wearing a blue dress... They didn't know, perhaps there was someone who saw them like that.

But that wasn't their primary concern.

"Subtlety isn't my area of expertise, Tohsaka." Shirou defended himself, "Besides, they'll just think that what they saw was just a hallucination or something like that."

"How can you be so sure?" asked Rin.

He blinked before he then answered rather sheepishly, "Well... I'm not being arrogant, but most of our schoolmates aren't very... well, bright. I mean, only few of them could see your real self, you know, the personality beneath your idol-like persona? And sometimes, even though they've seen it, I heard them saying something to justify what they've seen, it's... rather annoying for me if I've to be honest."

Rin was not a perfect human being, no matter how much her fanclub says it. And sometimes, her cheery, bubbly, and pure girl public mask cracked and showed the cold, manipulating magus within.

And like Shirou said, some of her classmates _had _seen it, but most of the time, they also tried to justify what they've seen. And sometimes, the justification were outright ridiculous as well...

"...While that _may _be right..." Rin acquiesced, "Even if what you said is true... They would look at you differently now. They'll ask you questions, what will you answer them? They _did _see you jumping down from the top of the school."

"...Well... on the top of my head, I'll tell them that I jumped because something precious of mine fell, I acted on instinct, and survived without any injuries because of the tree branches that broke my fall somewhat."

"...Your fight broke the glass on the third floor." Rin stated, "How are you going to fit that explanation in?"

"...I really like that pen that I dropped." was Shirou's answer.

Rin could only sigh exasperatedly as she shook her head. Saber however, was not that exasperated as Rin to give a response; "Shirou, did any of your friends saw the purple-haired Servant, Rider?"

"Actually, no." Rin answered Saber, "I failed to keep them from seeing you jumping down, but the Servant, Rider, was not seen by any of them, all they saw was you." she said as she looked towards Shirou.

"Well, that's good isn't it?" the redhead asked rhetorically, "We can avoid explaining the presence of an unknown purple-haired woman who wore a rather skimpy outfit in broad daylight."

It's easier to explain why one did a seemingly stupid and dangerous thing compared to explaining the presence of a Heroic Spirit that simply did not belong in their era. That's the essence of what he said.

Noticed by Rin, she then replied with; "Well... at least we don't have to give two explanations... one of them is ridiculous enough."

"But not too ridiculous to not be believed." Shirou rebutted, adamant about what he believed to be an acceptable excuse.

Rin sighed again and said; "Look, worse comes to worst, you left the hypnotizing to me, okay?"

"It won't come to it. I promise." Shirou assured the still skeptical Rin.

"...Anyway..." Rin began to alter the course of the conversation, "What did you learn from the Servant?" she asked.

"I learned her class, for one thing." answered Shirou readily, "I learned about her identity, and therefore, the possible Noble Phantasms that she could have besides the Bounded Field... And I also learn who her Master is."

Rin's response was instant, "Really? ...Wow... Well, at least we got something good out of this whole mess..." she remarked as her previously tense posture relaxed the minute he told her that.

"So..." Rin started again, "Who's her Master? Must be a magus of an unknown heritage, I'm sure."

"That's where you're wrong." Shirou quickly said, destroying her assumption instantly, "We know who he is. It's Shinji, Matou Shinji."

"...Him?" Rin asked out of disbelief, "How? As far as I know, the lineage of the Matou family are dying out. By our generation, he's not supposed to have any kind of magic circuits in his body."

"I don't know, but considering his family is one of the founders of this competition, it might be possible that they know some loopholes in the system that they could abuse." answered Shirou. But seconds after he said that, his eyes lit up, as if realizing something, "...Wait... if their lineage are dying, then what about Sakura?"

"...She's an exception to it I suppose." Rin hand-waved his realization rather impassively.

Rin saw his eyes narrowing, and once again, she realized that he knew that she just made an attempt to evade an in-depth explanation. And it was apparent that he was not convinced by her answer.

Saber, noticing this, saved Rin from further explanation by saying; "Shirou. This business regarding with Rider's Master looked personal in regards to you... Why do you hate this person, Shinji Matou, so much?"

"...Call it my instinct." Shirou began, "You see, because of my... Origin, I am able to determine one's value, be it a lifeless object or a person. That's how I'm able to tell that Shinji is not someone worthy to be called friend... And it's also why I do not trust that fake priest."

"Your Origin?" asked Rin.

"Yeah. ...Come to think of it, you haven't seen it yet, have you?" Shirou then extended his hand towards Rin and said; "You won't believe me even if I told you... So go on ahead and see."

Once again being offered something that most magi would've died trying to keep it a secret, Rin couldn't help but be awed at what the magi community as a whole saw as something mind-boggingly stupid.

But then again, following the saying; 'Do not look a gift horse in the mouth', Rin accepted his offer and wordlessly took his hand to be analyzed.

Before she could do it however, Saber cleared her throat to make her presence noticed, and then she looked at Rin and said; "Rin. I was made aware of your attempt to take Shirou's life yesterday."

...Crap.

Rin began to sweat as the Servant of the Sword were glaring at Rin rather coldly, "...Oh... Uh... hehe... I... uh, that was..."

"Saber..." Shirou said in a manner that seemed to convey a warning.

"...But nevertheless, Shirou still considered you an ally. And by proxy, I shall do the same." Saber stated, still glaring at Rin, "However, I will not condone further attempts to take his life to be performed by _anyone_." then her emerald eyes was burning with calm fury, "Do you understand, Tohsaka Rin?"

After taking a sharp intake of air, Rin replied; "...Loud and clear."

She then nodded and said; "Good."

Well... if what he said to her yesterday was not enough to convince her to stay on his good side, then that served as a more lethal incentive...

Unlike Shirou who seemed to be willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, even after she attacked him, Rin was doubtful that the Servant of the Sword shared her Master's sentiment for her.

Returning to the matter at hand, she began to analyze his soul, passing by the anomaly that was his physical Circuits, Rin looked deeper and deeper into his very soul...

...And found something unexpected.

She opened her eyes and said; "...Wait... what... what does that suppose to mean...?"

Shirou merely smiled rather sardonically, "Even you're still confused after seeing it personally... But I guess now you believe me when I said that you won't come to believe me if I just told you what my Origin is instead of showing it to you."

Saber looked at the twin-tailed magus and said; "What did you see, magus?"

"...He... It can't be... Dual Origin?"

...

* * *

...

_"...Really? What does that mean?" asked a relatively younger Shirou._

_"It means that your Origin is not constrained to a single one, but two Origins comprised as a single entity." answered his mentor. "It's quite a rare occurrence. A trait that you share with only one other person in this world."  
_

_"Who?" asked Shirou with his child-like curiosity.  
_

_"Your father."_

...

* * *

...

"...'Sword', and 'Artifact'..." Shirou stated, "That is my Origin... Sword determines that I will always be drawn to fight. To bring myself into combat, where I'm most useful and capable of defeating an adversary who threatened me or my allies. Artifact gives me a talent to value someone with pin-point accuracy, and it allows me to be valued by others as well, giving me an aura that they would see as something endearing if not to be respected."

"But the intertwining Origins made it so that one trait from one Origin would interfere or replace the other. One of which is that-"

"You will not be able to give yourself some value." answered Saber. Being a Heroic Spirit who lived and died by the Sword, she knew what it meant. "A sword's worth is valued by how many enemies it's killed and battles it has endured as much as it is valued by the substances that created it. Sometimes the former is counted more than the latter. "

"Correct." Shirou answered with a nod. "And as an 'Artifact', I cannot find any value within myself besides the value that others see within me. And for a time, I thought of myself as nothing more than a foot soldier destined to die in a war or for the greater good." the redhead then smiled rather grimly, "And I was fine with that."

Hearing his admittance that he had been fine with the notion of death was something rather surreal, grim, and not to mention disturbing for Rin, that kind of thinking was _not _normal "...You _were... _right?"

The redhead nodded, "I _was. _My mentor and my father then quickly stomped that idea right out of my head when they knew."

...

* * *

...

_"Do not be consumed by the knowledge of your Origin, Shirou. You may know them, you may learn about them, you may even awaken them, but do not think that you must follow that path just because it was already made for you. Pave your own path. Because even though they are the things that determine what you will most likely become, they are not a constant that will determine your real future."  
_

...

* * *

...

"My mentor was rather blunt in his hate of Origin... He thought that it was a rather stupid, fatalistic system... But he also liked it. In a way a hunter loves a good game. The more impossible to kill the animal is, the more elated the hunter will become... Because of the challenge it gives him."

"He inspired me to not surrender to what has been set for me and to make my own path. Become what I choose to be instead of what was decided for me... And my father? Well... compared to my mentor, his reaction was rather tame about my way of thinking back then. More subdued. But equally enlightening."

...

* * *

...

_"Shirou... that kind of path will not lead you to happiness. Believe me, of all the people in the world, I know how you can be destroyed by your own ideals and dreams."_

_"...Father? What do you mean?"_

_"Please... do not become me."_

...

* * *

...

"He uh... he revealed a lot of things. The depths of his character that I had never seen before... In the end, he basically said to me that he doesn't want me to become like him."

Saber knew his father... She knew about the person named Kiritsugu Emiya... The ruthless, pragmatic man who cared not for honor or chivalry in combat... One whose hatred of heroes were so blatant and so clear that he even refused to talk to her during her time as his Servant.

It was a wonder how they managed to work together in the Fourth War... Well, upon further inspection, one could see that it was because of Saber's honor as a knight and his more amiable wife who acted as a decoy for the War, Irisviel von Einzbern.

But, she saw how... _hollow_ his father was... Looking at Shirou, she could see that this... emptiness, was not present in the redhead's eyes.

However... he _was _rather different. Though it's not as strikingly visible as his father's eyes, Saber could see from his eyes that his mindset, the way he see himself and the world was as much distorted as, if not more than his father.

"...Your father sounds like someone who have some dark past, Emiya-kun."

"He _had_ a dark past." Shirou confirmed, "The details wasn't shared but... I saw his eyes... they were... empty."

...

* * *

...

_"Why do you hate yourself so much, father?"_

_"(Sigh)... It's not hate... Regret... would be the right word to define this emotion... Of everything that I have done, everything that I was before I found you."_

_"...Why? Please don't be like that! Whatever it was, it can't be that bad. ...Right?"_

_"Hm. Let me tell you something Shirou... There are things that no human being should do for any conceivable reasoning made by their minds... One of them is..."_

...

* * *

...

"Empty?" asked Rin.

"Not lifeless, more like... hollow. And every time he smiled, it looked like an attempt to be something that he was not." Shirou explained, "But even through that emptiness, every time he sees me... There's a slight happiness that could be seen beneath them. ...I was his only reason to live, he had lost everything that had given him a purpose before he saved me."

"That thought alone made me want to follow his footsteps. To continue whatever dreams that he had or his ideals that he used to follow... But he forbade me from doing so."

...

* * *

...

_"Look at this man in front of your eyes, Shirou... What do you see in him with your Origin?"  
_

_"Dad, wha-?"_

_"Answer my question, son. What do you see within the man right before your eyes?"_

_"I see... I-I see..."_

_"Go on."_

_"...I see a... a broken man... An, an empty man... A... a cursed man...? F-father, what...?"_

_"All of them are true. And all of them are caused by myself. I am not someone who should be followed by anyone, especially you, Shirou."_

_..._

* * *

_..._

"His reasons were sound." Shirou said after a moment of reminiscing, "So I took it. ...Still, it hadn't been easy for the younger me to take. I guess I was... twelve, thirteen at that time? Anyway, after I basically accepted what he said in silence... I took my time to walk, clear my head... And that's where I met her."

"...The Archer." said Saber.

"Yes. Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk... she unwittingly set me upon the path that I now take. When she berated me for following the path of a hero, it was as if the retort was just inside me all along and I just need someone to pull it out."

"...A hero?" asked Rin.

"A hero to those I value highly." Shirou answered, "To put those people as the ones that I have to save above all else. That's the kind of hero I am. Or at least, what I will be."

...Such a childish notion. But his eyes betrayed no other emotions beside his earnest conviction.

She couldn't help it, Rin began to laugh, first it was a small chuckle, but then it turned into a full-blown laughter.

"Sorry, I'm sorry! It's just that... it's so childish of you! A-and, how much it actually suits you just...! Aahahahahaha...!"

Shirou merely sighed, clearly it wasn't the first time someone laughed at him for choosing to walk that particular path, "Thank you for being blunt Rin. I've expected that was coming."

Meanwhile, inside Saber's head...

_"Haahahahahahaaha! Such a childish fool! To think that there's another one similar to you here, little girl. You must be_ so_ elated."_

Deciding to not dignify her counterpart's remark with a reply once more, she-

_"Although, he_ is_ starkly different than you... He has chosen the need of the few rather than the many... He knows his own limit and what choosing the many would lead to... And this path of his can bring himself some happiness... Hm. This one might be redeemable."_

...That was the first time Saber ever heard her counterpart complimenting someone...

It was... quite surprising, really.

"It's a decent path to live by, Shirou. That much is certain." Saber said, relaying her and her counterpart's thought.

Shirou smiled widely, a smile _not _made by hearing one's approval, but a smile that was made due to one's understanding of his way, "Thank you Saber."

She nodded in response. Though she wanted nothing more than to prove that her counterpart was wrong in every subject, she couldn't deny the similarity between herself and her Master.

Both of them were idealists to a fault. One of them was someone who would gladly sacrifice her own life to withstand the burden of a country. And the other was someone who would give his all to those whom he considered as his friends.

However, their difference lies in the scale of what they want to achieve. ...And as much as it annoyed her, her counterpart was right.

He was walking a path through which he could achieve some happiness for both himself and his companies.

The same however, cannot be said for the path that she'd been walking this whole time.

At the same time, Rin's laughter began to fade, gaining her bearings once more, she then said; "Haha... Okay... okay. Now... let's talk about the Servant Rider. Shall we, Emiya-kun?"

Shirou nodded, and so the three of them began to make plans...

...

* * *

...

'Artifact, huh...?' mused a certain tan-skinned, white-haired bowman who had been eavesdropping on the conversation between Shirou and his Master, 'So this _is _a different universe... Shirou Emiya having Dual Origin like Emiya Kiritsugu... At least now I know for certain that this world isn't the one that I want to be placed in.'

Archer's expression turned rather somber and sullen when he replayed what the boy Shirou had said to Rin; His father had discouraged him from walking the same path that he once walked.

The bowman couldn't help but chuckle mirthlessly. The knowledge that the boy was his mirror counterpart in more ways than one was not lost on him. One of them prioritized the needs of the many, and the other prioritized the needs of the few.

To a third party, the former might seem more noble than the latter, a chivalrous knight who would bear the weight of the world upon his shoulders.

But to him, the aforementioned chivalrous knight, he knew that despite the perceived selfishness of the latter, the one who prioritized the needs of the few was someone who knew when to stop when he should. Someone who knew of their own limits.

'And someone who could gain happiness. True happiness. Someone who could make those around him happy.' Archer thought to himself before he procured a bitter smile, 'Ck... damn it... Even though it's hard for me to admit this, this Emiya Shirou is not a hopeless case. He's not a foolish hero wannabe, he knows who and what he is and he knows the lines that he must not cross.'

He's better. A better man. A better combatant. A better hero.

The Counter Guardian shook his head as he muttered; "I wonder if Alaya had a hand in this somehow... Just for the sake of showing me the irony of following a path that I had believed would lead to my happiness only to find out that I would be even happier following the lesser path."

Even though he didn't know for sure, and even though he didn't have any evidence that would support his assumption...

He could feel the Will of Humanity laughing at him right now.

Archer gritted his teeth as he clenched his eyes shut and thought, '...I hate you so much, you damn twisted genie...'

...

* * *

...

In the dark hallways of the residence of the well-known Matou family, a seemingly-frail figure could be seen leaning on the cane that he held on his hand.

The things that his rotten mind was pondering... Most of them were not for the squeamish amongst men to know and for the justly-driven souls to discover...

But there were two things that he's thinking about, two specific things that could be revealed without someone wincing or shuddering because of it.

First was his incompetent grandson that was spawned from one of his son who was equally incompetent. At least his other son who participated in the Fourth War had some backbone in him along with the latent capability of performing Magecraft.

Less whiny and less arrogant his other son was. Still equally foolish however, to think that there was something that he could've done to change what his father had done.

And regarding the grandson that came from his more incompetent son, he had been allowed to participate in the Holy Grail War, despite his ineptitude due to the strangeness of the last Heaven's Feel and the current one.

The Holy Grail must have been tampered upon. Why else would it be active now, only ten years after the previous War instead of the usual sixty years? Not only that, but due to something that had been done to the artifact, it has allowed the Masters to summon another type of heroes.

Anti-Heroes. Heroes not known for their chivalry, Heroes not known for their honor, Heroes not known by their compassion.

But they are Heroes who were known for something they did, which could be regarded as morally ambiguous or even outright villainous. After all, if one were to say that the infamous Breton serial killer of children who was the basis of the folk legend Bluebeard can be said as a paragon of justice, and therefore, can be summoned through the supposedly holy artifact, then they are woefully ignorant.

And who doesn't know about the legend of the Gorgon, Medusa? And to those who knew, would they call her as a paragon of honesty? Of honor? Of chivalry?

Of course not. For she was a villain. A villain from a hero's legend, whose name was Perseus.

And yet, she could be, and had been summoned with the right artifact connected to her legend combined with a slight modification of the summoning incantation.

Zouken Matou was not pleased with this fact. This would mean that The Holy Grail was no longer 'Holy' and therefore, he could not-

...

...

...He could not...

...

...?

...What was it that he cannot do, now that the grail's corrupted...?

The old worm growled as a faraway memory that had been in his grasp suddenly went away as if it had been a smoke.

For his soul was rotten, and therefore, the memories of his life before he was forced to be a monster was no longer reachable.

But yet, despite everything, despite his rotting soul and despite his gruesome body, the fire called determination still burned brightly within him. It was grafted so tightly into his soul that he would live on for the sake of something that he had long forgotten.

'It does not matter... What matters is the Holy Grail... I _need _it.'

And that brought us to the second thing that he's thinking of... His adopted granddaughter, Sakura Matou, formerly of Tohsaka.

...She's... not developing as planned..By that, it meant that her resolve was quite endurable, _quite, _as in capable of enduring years and years of physical and mental abuse done by Matou's way of magecraft.

Despite all that he had done to destroy her very being, her resolve was unbreakable. A normal person would've died during the first week of the treatment that he had given her. A stronger person would've become a broken shell of a person during the first month. An even stronger person would've killed themselves after enduring four months of the 'training' that he had prescribed for her...

But she had survived for _ten __years..._

The old worm was both impressed and agitated by her strength... As expected of the Tohsaka family after all, they produce impressive progenies despite their relatively intermediate class among the Association.

However... there were some moments where she saw weakness beneath the mask of indifference that she had put for herself...

It involved a boy. Someone who saved her from a case of pathetic bullying.

Shirou Emiya his name was... And Zouken Matou knew that he did not share the family name of a certain Magus Killer due to sheer coincidence.

No. He's related, if not adopted by the man, trained by him, no doubt, and quite powerful as well, if Zouken's senses were to be believed...

However, the moments where he provided weakness to the girl was the thing that the old worm considered as important. But despite of that, the cracks were few and sometimes nearly imperceptible, however, with the small windows, Zouken had made sure to exploit those openings whenever he can. And it had proven to be somewhat beneficial to his cause.

He knew that what brought the weakness to light was her own insecurity and doubt. Her insecurity of who and what she was, what she had endured, and how... _tainted_ and _sullied _she was... And it was combined with her doubt about the boy's feelings towards her...

However, the boy was not an ordinary person. As he managed to bring the concept called hope into the girl's heart.

A feat considered impossible, but yet happened anyway.

The girl's resolve did not break this time, instead, it was strengthened.

But, well... If one were to say that this unprecedented development bothered the old worm, then they did not know a thing about Zouken Matou.

If there's anything that can be admired from him, it's his sheer tenacity.

Even though he no longer remembered the reason _why _he coveted the Holy Grail so badly, his rotting soul only remembered that he _had _to have it.

And for that reason, he must modify the plan slightly. The girl shall be put under more pressure during her 'trainings'. His incompetent fool of a grandson can do whatever he wanted to do with his Servant, it's not like he would win anyway. And...

And as for the boy named Shirou Emiya...

'Hm... an exceptional measure must be taken against him...'

The boy was not normal. The boy was fiercely loyal to those he cared about, in this case, his adopted granddaughter. The way he glared at him whilst acting as her protector somewhat reminded him of a certain someone that the man he used to be had known... The man named Zolgen Makiri considered this person as his friend once... Who was his name...? Na.. Nage...

Ah yes, Nagato. Nagato... Hm, his surname escaped him at the moment.

But it was of no matter.

As for the boy, Shirou Emiya, he could either be someone who is essential to what the old worm wanted...

Or he could be someone who will destroy everything that he had done over the course of decades.

One thing is for certain however...

He will _not_ let go of Sakura so easily.

After all, he had gotten this far in his attempt to reach the Holy Grail... To back away now would be idiotic of him.

And no one shall stand in his way.

**No one.**

...

* * *

...

To be continued...

...

* * *

So, a relatively short chapter this time, but the delay between this and the next chapter would be shorter than this and the previous one, I promise.

And if you're wondering what it was that Shirou did in his battle against Rider, I'll give you a name that the hardcore fans of Type-Moon among you would know immediately: Lio Shirazumi.

To those of you who know who I'm talking about without checking Type-Moon wikia, no. Shirou's not turning into what Lio Shirazumi had become, but the general idea of the transformation is the same. Remember, their Origins are different, one is 'Sword' and 'Artifact' while the other is 'Consumption'.

Not to mention that their 'distortions' are different as well. While Shirou just has the inherent need to be there when it matters and save everyone, Lio is a psychopath beneath the facade of normality that really comes to surface after what a certain former Buddhist monk did to him.

Now, with all that said, I shall see you at the next chapter.


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **Type-Moon owns the Fate Series.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

* * *

_Fuyuki City... Miyama district. Homurahara Academy.  
_

It was a day after Shirou, Rin, and Saber spent a lengthy discussion about the Servant Rider.

Her identity was Medusa, the youngest of the three gorgon sisters, one among many important characters of the Greek mythology. And knowing her identity, her Noble Phantasms could easily be predicted.

One of them was the Mystic Eyes of Petrifaction, the Eyes that could turn anyone, even a being that could rival gods, into stone. This was the Noble Phantasm that Shirou had experienced first hand in addition to her other Noble Phantasm.

Which was the nameless Bounded Field that could also be linked to the legend of Medusa, who lived with her sisters in an impenetrable island of a sort.

However, the other very possible Noble Phantasm is what worried Rin the most, as it could be considered her trump card.

The Magical Beast called Pegasus.

In the legend, when Medusa was beheaded by the hero Perseus, a Pegasus sprung forth from the blood of her headless neck, and it was later tamed by the hero Bellerophon, who tamed and mounted the winged horse for the purpose to find and slay the legendary creature called Chimera. The legend of Bellerophon taming the Pegasus would later be integrated with the more known Perseus who beheaded the gorgon, but that is a story for another time.

They had more than one reason to believe that this Noble Phantasm was the reason why she's classified as a Rider. A Magical Beast was not something that one could mount at will... For the beast had so much power that it would not accept any person to just ride it as if it were a mere horse.

Rin reasoned that Rider must be stopped before she summoned the Pegasus.

And so, it led them to this.

"She took off the Bounded Field." Shirou stated when he entered the school and noticing that he no longer felt the stomach-lurching feel that was caused by Rider's Bounded Field.

"Tch... This isn't good." Rin remarked as she stood beside him.

Shirou was about to say why before the answer hit him, "Right... Shinji must've ordered her to take it off because of my interference, now they're looking to find someplace else for her to consume a lot of souls at once."

"Exactly." Rin confirmed, "Now that worthless worm knows how dangerous you really are, he wouldn't dare to set foot in this place, much less letting Rider's Bounded Field to be active when this is the place where you would most likely visit every day." she said, "...As much as I hate to admit it, I guess he's more scared of you than me."

"Is that a bad thing, Tohsaka?" Shirou asked with genuine curiosity.

"...In this situation, I can accept that it's not." Rin conceded, "You're clearly stronger than me... It would be stupid of me to think otherwise."

Shirou merely shrugged and said; "Still doesn't make you a less competent magus."

At that, she smiled faintly and scoffed, "Hmph, of course. It is only expected of me to excel at every field in Magecraft after all."

Shirou merely smiled back as he shook his head at Rin's prideful declaration, "Well then, oh great Rin Tohsaka, what do you suggest we do next? Skip school during lunch time to hunt for Shinji? Or do you want to wait until school's over to maintain your idol persona?"

Both of the suggestions that Shirou made were accompanied by different yet equally troublesome conundrum...

To choose the former would mean that her absence would be noted, and that could cause some kind of rumor to spread around the school, especially if Shirou were to leave the school with her.

Ah, she could just imagine what kind of conversation the other students would be having once they caught wind of something like that.

_"Hey, you hear about Tohsaka and Emiya? They're skipping school at the same time!"_

_"What do you think they're doing?"_

_"I-is she... you know? Emiya's girlfriend or something?"_

_"...It could be. I mean, the evidence is as clear as day!"_

So no, she will _not_ let that kind of rumor spreading around the school, thank you very much.

But to choose the latter would mean that more time would be given to Shinji Matou to complete his plot, and he's in an advantage, considering that his current location was not known to them.

So in the end, she chose the third option.

"Well, Emiya-kun, if you're so feared by Shinji, then maybe you should be the one responsible in looking for him." She said with a sweet smile, "After all, you are the _great_ Emiya Shirou, someone who could defeat a Servant in one-on-one combat with his powers. And not to mention that you're the one who forced him to go into hiding."

Without hesitation, he nodded and said; "Hm. Sounds reasonable. Very well, I'll be out of school by lunch time then."

What? Why didn't he even react to her teasing? That just ruined the fun...

"O-oh, I see." Rin said, miffed by his lack of reaction to her veiled coercion.

"Sorry for taking your job though." Shirou casually added.

"...What do you mean?"

Shirou shrugged again and said, "Well, seeing that you're the Second Owner of the city, I thought that it's your duty to put Shinji down for good, you know, seeing that you're the one who's supposed to uphold the tradition of keeping the War dignified, secret and all that."

Damn it, he got her there.

"But well, seeing that you have another duty to uphold, I guess I'll take it for the moment." Shirou said.

..._If _he were Archer, Rin could identify a snide, sarcastic remark with his arrogant, know-it-all smirk.

But with Shirou, his expression held nothing but honesty, even though what he said could be interpreted as something derisive, his face betrayed nothing of the sort.

And so, Rin could only glare at him with the expression that could be interpreted as 'Warning! Do not attempt to approach the wild, untamed beast in its agitated state!'.

However, seeing this only made Shirou confused, "...Have I done something wrong, Tohsaka?"

"...Oh, nothing Emiya-kun... really, nothing..." she answered with a dangerous tone of voice while still keeping the sweet-looking smile on her face.

"Oh, well alright." Shirou said after a few seconds of examining her expression.

"E-Emiya?"

Hearing the sound of a certain student council president, Shirou and Rin turned towards one Issei Ryuudou, who looked rather shocked by something that he was seeing.

Oh, right.

It might be rather late to mention this, but Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka was seen by the other students _together. _As in walking together to school together, side-by-side together.

She did not mean it to be this way if one were wondering, he and her did not plan to meet together at his house nor hers to walk to school together, it just happened through chance that mid-way, they encountered one another and unconsciously decided to walk side-by-side. Though not too close, considering that they didn't have an intimate relationship.

Considering the fact that the chance of the two meeting each other on their usual route to Homurahara Academy was usually pretty low considering the location of their houses, it was no wonder that Issei would was shocked by what he's seeing.

"Ah, good morning to you, Ryuudou-kun." said Rin with a pleasant smile on her face.

"T-Tohsaka! H-hey, Emiya? Why is she with you? What's going on? Could it be that...? No... have you been seduced by this vixen, Emiya?!" Issei asked frantically, as if he had just seen something so unbelievable to be said as the reality. Something that just destroyed his whole belief in humanity.

Rin smiled, not a smile of purity that she had showed before, but a smile of mischief.

She then went closer to Issei and said; "Hm... your reaction of me being with Emiya-kun is rather... strange, Ryuudou-kun." she remarked rather impishly, "Why, it was a reaction that I would expect from his significant other."

Issei's face began to gain heat as he blushed, he took a step back, "Y-you're exaggerating! I'm just worried about him! Your influence would corrupt him!"

"Hmm~. Still seeing the 'scorned lover' instead of the 'worried friend' here, Ryuudou-kun." Then she giggled and said; "Well don't worry. It's not as if I'm judging. Go ahead and spend your time with your boyfriend here."

After saying that, she went off on her own, giggling all the while. While inwardly, she hoped that the spectacle that she had just made would get some unsavory rumors about Shirou to circulate.

"T-that...!" Issei then turned to Shirou, whose expression was quite unreadable, and he also noticed that some of the students were looking at him while whispering to one another, no doubt already believing what that minx just said, "E-Emiya! I was just worried about you and-"

Shirou then patted Issei's shoulder and said; "Relax. She's just pulling your leg." he said in a calm manner.

Issei then sighed in relief, his worries washed away by his friend's knowledge of Rin Tohsaka's mischievous self.

But then...

"But if what Tohsaka said were true, then I have to apologize, I don't swing that way." Shirou stated with a voice that sounded rather sarcastic and deadpan.

...

* * *

...

Much to Rin's chagrin and amusement, there were no rumors about Shirou and Issei being lovers of some sort. Instead of that, there was a rumor about a tragically unrequited crush of the student council president with Shirou Emiya, the Humble Prince.

It was even more hilarious than she had hoped. And combined with the fact that the rumor made them forget about them arriving at the school together, it was more than enough to please her.

Diverting her thoughts away from the previous event that happened that morning, Tohsaka turned her head away from the ranting teacher towards the exterior of the school.

As she looked upon the distant yet visible skyscrapers in the district of Shinto, she couldn't help but to be worried about Shinji and his Servant who's still at large. Shinji did not come to school today, and so did his sister... Both of them had different reasons for doing so.

With Shinji, she already knew the reason why. But with Sakura...?

Normally, this kind of thought would never plague her mind. But that was before Shirou shook her belief in her father's decision to send Sakura to another family of magus where she would be trained in their arts instead of Tohsaka's.

Zouken Matou was not a normal person. Shirou Emiya's ability to detect his 'smell' allowed him to make that deduction, and frankly, she couldn't help but inwardly agree with him.

She had seen the old man from afar, perhaps once or twice... And every time she saw him, she couldn't help but feel repulsed. Whether it was because of his pale, bone-like skin, his pitch-black eyes, or his sheer repugnant presence, she didn't even have the will to lie to herself that Zouken Matou was a likeable person.

No. As far as she knew, most magi are not likeable. It's kind of written in the job description that they have to be ruthless and arrogant.

But even though she got the arrogant part down, it was not in her nature to be ruthless.

As much as she had been trying to emulate her father in terms of how magi must behave or act, deep down, she's more like her mother than she had thought.

She cared for her sister, that much she knew and realized. And as much as she wanted to pulverize the familial feeling regarding her estranged sibling, she found that she could not do so, despite her numerous attempts.

In fact, because of what the redhead found about one Zouken Matou, she had been intrigued enough to search her father's notes that he had left behind... And she found that her father had a slight idea of how the old patriarch managed to live for so long...

It was vague, it was not specific, but her father had known that Zouken's method to stay alive was not very... healthy, to say the very least...

But yet he decided to give Sakura away anyway. For the sake of convenience.

Her father's notes had shed some light to the man that he had been admiring and looked up to for the past few years...

And what she found was not something that amplified her admiration. Worse, it made her realize that she knew very little about her own father...

Was he a family man? Perhaps, he was quite civil and father-like to both her and her sister whenever he interacted with them. Though he was rather distant, to the point that her memory of him doing some father-daughter bonding with her were scarce and easily forgotten.

Was he a good husband? A bit distant and perhaps awkward most of the time, but nevertheless, he tried his best at keeping her mother as happy as she could be in a society that thought of marriage between two family of magi as a breeding contract.

...Was he a good magus?

If one were talking about the standards of what a 'good' magus should be, then yes. He was a very good magus.

So good that he was absolutely cold and ruthless in dealing with situations that required him to act as a magus should be. So good that when the time came to choose between his family and a good magus' way of life, he chose the latter.

She didn't know if she could make the same choice as he did if she were in his position... And she's not sure if she wanted to _be _in a similar position and be forced to make a troubling choice between two things that she cared equally.

Ignorance had been a bliss for her. Her father was a good man and a good magus, and it was only right for her to follow his footsteps being the eldest of the Tohsaka family. Those had been her thoughts once.

Now? She's not so sure.

She inwardly sighed, her mind burdened by the revelation of her father's past deeds and who he truly was. And not to mention by the possibility that her sister had been living a horrifying life under the watchful gaze of Zouken Matou, a life that Rin dare not imagine, let alone experience. 'Damn you Emiya-kun...' she cursed the young man who had brought these kinds of thoughts to her in the first place.

"Miss Tohsaka, please pay attention!"

"Y-yes!" she stuttered out, somewhat caught by surprise by the teacher's sudden yell.

After a bit of reprimanding from the teacher, she then opted to pay attention to the class once more.

But even so, her mind could not be pulled away from thought of her sister, nor from the thought of Shirou, who had opted to kill the old Matou who had been troubling her conscience recently.

Not that she minded the notion... But considering that the one that he wanted to kill was Zouken Matou, she knew that he must have some plan to fulfill it.

And she's looking forward to hear it.

...

* * *

...

_Fuyuki City... Shinto district. Afternoon._

A certain redhead could be seen walking in the crowded district of Shinto, wearing not his school uniform, but his usual long-sleeved white t-shirt beneath his blue jacket, combined with dark-blue jeans and a pair of black shoes.

He had left the school early, -and unannounced as well, so he expected Taiga to come and lecture him in the near future- and went home to prepare himself to look for one Shinji Matou and his Servant.

He had a suspicion that Shinji would move his base of operation towards the Shinto district, after all, the district is known for its high concentration of people, even during the night. The only thing that he needed to do was to find the area that he will most likely use for harvesting souls.

And so...

"Do you feel her presence nearby?" he asked the one standing besides him.

"No, Shirou. I'm afraid I do not. We will have to keep searching." the blonde woman replied.

He had brought Saber along with him. The Once and Future King of Britain was wearing her usual clothing as she stood beside Shirou like how a bodyguard would stand beside his protectee.

Her stern expression helped matters. Along with her body language.

Although her small body could give someone another idea of why she's standing so close to him.

But Shirou thought of it as something natural of her to do. After all, she's bound by her knightly disposition and so she considered it her duty as his Servant to always guard him.

And Shirou considered that he might as well accept the notion with good graces despite being able to take care of himself.

But regarding Saber's answer to his question, he knew that she was wrong.

Someone was watching them. He or she was not close, but not far enough to let them observe him and Saber.

But he was not worried. This presence held no hostility towards them.

Curious, to be more exact. And the gaze of this person felt rather... familiar somehow..

It's someone that he knew. Or at the very least, someone whom he had met before, and if he were to narrow it down to several people...

Shirou flashed a knowing smile before he shook his head, something that didn't escape Saber's sight, as she then asked, "...Shirou? What's the matter?"

The redhead smiled at his Servant and said; "Someone's watching us, Saber. But don't be tense, this one's not an enemy. Not yet at least..."

...

* * *

...

A plump, sensual-looking lips formed a smile as the owner's gaze fell upon the redhead who was conversing with the little girl king.

"As expected of you boy... you could sense me, even from afar." she spoke to herself. "Truly, you are a man worthy for a king's entertainment."

The blonde-haired woman known as Gilgamesh watched Shirou with keen interest, she also noticed that the childish king was also with him, guarding him as she positioned herself as close as possible to him. As expected of her. Gilgamesh knew of her innocence, her blind idealism and the reason why she sought the Holy Grail so much.

She smiled rather impishly, and uttered; "Ah~ sweet Saber... the flame still burns bright within you... How beautiful... yet also slightly pitiful to look at."

The King of Heroes knew and met the King of Knights during the Fourth Heaven's Feel. At first, she thought that she was a pretender like the other so-called 'heroes' that was summoned alongside her in the fourth War, the Original Hero.

But after the so-called banquet held by the admittedly fascinating King of Conquerors, her disposition towards the King of Knights changed from annoyance to amusement.

She had a hilarious view of how a king should be, Gilgamesh rarely found something truly deserved to be regarded as funny, but her ideal was astoundingly hilarious for her to laugh.

How hilarious that a king viewed herself as someone who should serve her subjects. _Serve! _The gall of the girl to call herself a king, a leader of a country, its army and its people with that kind of mindset!

But nevertheless, she had caught her interest with her childish ideals. All alone, bearing her false, poisonous ideals and not knowing of her sins of being a king who cared not for her own self.

A king is supposed to lead. A king is supposed to stand far above his subjects. A king should be selfish. And a king must never_... ever, _serve.

While Saber was not a true king, she amused her due to her being an aberration of a monarch. And as such, she considered her as a treasure that was not and could not be a part her vast treasury.

There were few things that she regarded as such... And another one of those things was _him. _The boy whom she was currently walking with.

Knowing the boy's ideals, she knew that he's here to look for the pathetic Servant controlled by her equally pathetic Master.

Oh she knew of them alright. After all, those who do as they like within her garden would not, or _shall not _be ignored.

However, someone of her station shall never deign herself to take care of this pesky problem. After all, the little wretch of a Master and his Servant were pitifully weak. It pains her to even look at them so, let alone to lower herself to kill them.

So she opted to give this task to the boy who reminded herself of her one friend so much... One could call it a test. A test to see how far will he follow his ideal.

Gilgamesh allowed herself to smile expectantly as she watched him from one of the skyscrapers dotting the landscapes of Shinto district, "Well then, reincarnation of Enkidu... show me what you're made of."

...

* * *

...

_A couple of hours later... In the late afternoon._

Everything was going swell.

However, considering the 'mission' that he and Saber had been doing so far, how well everything had been going thus far made him slightly more worried.

In a couple of hours, night will befall Fuyuki City again, and at that time, there was no doubt in his mind that the Servant Rider will already have her base set, and afterwards, she can hunt people again for their Od in the Shinto district.

Considering that he could minimize casualty by finding and killing Shinji, he was very much pressed by his own ideal to quickly find him and let this matter be over with.

However, doing so in this crowded part of the city could be somewhat... troublesome.

'Then again, hoping that this is a matter that could be handled with subtlety would be rather redundant.' Shirou thought, remembering what his mentor always said...

_"Sometimes, things may not go your way. Knowing this however, you must not despair and you must not try to make it go according to how you want it to be. You just have to do the best you can in that kind of situation."_

So with that in mind, he had resolved to solve this situation as silently as he possibly can. And if subtlety does not work...

Well, then just screw subtlety. He'll have to handle Shinji. Subtle or not, he's going down.

He then turned to Saber and said; "Searching for them this way won't work. No, not at all. Saber, follow me."

The blonde knight nodded as she followed her Master towards a rather secluded alley that was located in-between two large buildings.

Saber was rather confused by the location that he had chosen, and so she asked; "Shirou, what are we doing here?"

Shirou responded by saying; "I'm going to find the Servant's scent. However, my extra sense normally would not work in such a dense crowd so..."

There was a moment of silence, which was ended when Saber said; "...Yes?"

Shirou sighed before shaking his head, "This cannot be seen by other people. You'll understand when I do it."

After a moment, Saber nodded, understanding that he's about to use some kind of thaumaturgy to locate the Servant Rider, "Very well, Shirou. Do whatever you need to."

He nodded before he closed his eyes. And Saber heard him say...

**"...An awakened Sword. A realized Artifact.  
**

**...Forged from suffering. Created from death.**

**...Intertwined as one...**

**Origin Seal... Release."**

Then, before Saber's eyes, Shirou began to transform as a new sigil was formed on the back of his left hand. A sigil of a sword enveloped within a sun.

He opened his eyes, and Saber could see that the shade of his hair color and his eye color began to get lighter, his expression turned rather stern and austere, not unlike her usual one, and his eyes turned into a state of emptiness, the state where one's concentration was so focused that 'nothingness' was the only thing decipherable from the proverbial windows of the soul.

_"What is this sorcery?" _Saber Alter wondered in awe.

"Shirou, what did you just do?"

The unorthodox magus didn't seem to hear her question, as his now golden-colored eyes looked rather unfocused. Then, he began to sniff the air, for a second he looked like a dog searching for something that he needed to find.

Then, his head turned upward. And before Saber could react, he jumped and scaled the seven-story building by jumping multiple times across its vertically-aligned wall.

Though Saber was struck into a shocked state for a second, she managed to get herself out of her confusion and followed Shirou towards the rooftop that he had just jumped to.

When she arrived at the topmost part of the building, Shirou's hair and eyes were already back to normal. It was as if he had done nothing that changed his physical form.

_"Hm. Truly, he is something else." _her alternate self remarked.

The redhead then turned to Saber while his hand pointed towards a certain skyscraper in the distance, "There." he said, prompting Saber to look towards the building that he was pointing. "That building. That's where they're located."

...

* * *

...

"Goddamn it, can't you do this faster?!"

The Servant Rider, or once known in her lifetime as Medusa, didn't even react to her Master's constant complaints. She owe it to the fact that she's already used to his pestering so much that she didn't even bother to ask for his patience or something similar to that notion.

It was merely a day ago when he said that they would have to look for a new place to set her Bounded Field. And after looking around the city for awhile, he had led her to a building in Shinto district where she could consume a lot of souls at once using Blood Fort Andromeda.

Of course, to compensate for the prana that she must use to enact her Noble Phantasm, Shinji had ordered her to consume the souls of the ones still inside.

There weren't many people within the building when they came, but luckily, the previous sessions of feeding before they moved into the building was more than enough for her to enact Blood Fort Andromeda and leave more for her to be used in combat situation.

A couple of seconds later, she finished placing the Bounded Field, and as her perception was amplified in concordance to her Blood Fort Andromeda's proximity...

She found two intruders in her midst. Two very _familiar _intruders.

She smiled rather playfully, she then turned to her Master to inform him of the situation, "Master, there's-"

She never got the time to warn her master however...

As a massive explosion caught Rider and her Master off guard and destroyed the Bounded Field through the destruction of the markings that she had just drawn a couple of seconds ago.

...

* * *

...

_A couple of minutes before..._

With the clicking sound that came from a door's locking mechanism being broken, Shirou and Saber forcefully entered the building that Shirou had pointed just a couple of hours ago.

Though the main door was locked, Shirou went to the back door and used his Tracing to summon a strange-looking dagger that he had used to break into the building.

When they entered, he looked at Saber and said; "One of the floors here must be occupied by them, we'll just have to find which one. Come on."

She nodded and afterwards, along with Shirou, they began to sprint towards where the stairs are located within the building.

But when they reached the 'hub' area of the building, the sickening feeling of the Rider's Bounded Field materialized, and as such, they knew that they arrived just when the Rider managed to set her malignant Bounded Field again.

However, being in the presence of a newly-made Bounded Field, it gave Shirou and Saber another problem to deal with.

There was no doubt that Rider now knew where they are, and before she and Shinji could form a plan, Shirou knew that they must perform a preemptive strike against them.

So he turned to Saber and said; "Saber, do you have any special technique, preferably a powerful destructive technique that could be directed vertically?"

She nodded, knowing that there was indeed a technique such as what he described. "Yes. I can do something like that, Shirou."

With that answer, Shirou looked around the surrounding area before he pointed his finger towards the center of the room. "There. Go there and use it after you count to three and then you jump through the hole until you reach the floor where they're at."

Then, he began to run towards the stairs. Seeing this, Saber called him, "Shirou! Where are you going?!"

"The top floor! We're going to attack them from both ends so that the escape window will be narrowed! Hurry, use your technique before they could get away!"

There was a moment of hesitation before she nodded in affirmation. Then, in the time needed for a human to blink their eyes, Saber's attire changed into that of her usual battle dress. And then she went towards the center of the room.

When Shirou reached the stairs, he enacted his Reinforcement to its maximum capability to quickly traverse the winding stairs.

'...1...'

The second and third floor was passed by Shirou in a successively quick manner. And already the prana from his Circuits was being sucked rather voraciously by Saber to perform her technique.

And so, he pictured a mental image of electricity running through his body and provide Saber with the prana she needed.

'...2...'

As he went pass the fourth and fifth floor, Shirou already felt the raise of the amount of prana that Saber was absorbing from him, indicating that whatever it was that Saber's going to do, it's going to happen _very _soon.

'...3.'

And just when he was about to reach the seventh floor... It happened.

**"Strike Air... Hammer of the Wind King."**

And so Saber spoke.

It was a cyclone that came out of the invisible sword... A hurricane. A gale made out of highly-pressurized air, powerful enough to destroy concrete as if it were paper. Directed towards the heaven as if it were something to challenge the gods themselves.

The technique shook the building. And along with it, the pair of Master and Servant who had been terrorizing the city for the past few days...

...

* * *

...

Rider was slightly shaken by the sudden gust of wind that was caused by none other than the swordswoman that was the redheaded boy's Servant.

But the sound of someone arriving within her proximity and the sound of a sword being put at the ready managed to bring her out of her reverie. And it was enough for Shinji to whimper as he realized that his position -and his safety- had just been compromised.

"Servant Rider. Or should I call you Medusa?"

Well. She'd already expected that she would know her true name by now, after all, the redhead must've told her.

And as such, she didn't bother with taunting and outright summoned her chained blade, ready for the inevitable battle.

Meanwhile, she could hear her Master scrambling for safety, "R-Rider! Protect me! Kill that woman!" he yelled as he ran away to find someplace for him to cower in fear.

When he was gone, Saber turned to Rider and said; "For all the lives you have taken, Rider... Do you have any regrets? Do you seek to repent for all the things that you did?"

"...Hmph. I only did what my Master told me to. And as for regrets, it was my survival at stake. I didn't really have a choice." Rider replied.

"I see." Saber said succinctly. The blonde knight then positioned herself into a stance and said; "Then prepare yourself."

The infamous gorgon then threw the chained blade towards the knight.

But she easily deflected it with her invisible sword, and with but a second to spare, she charged towards Rider with her sword at the ready to deliver an attack.

Despite her tall stature, Rider's agility proved to be more than enough to dodge Saber's attack, she leaped overhead, twirled above Saber and the chains of her blade rattled as it followed the movement of its master.

Landing on all fours behind Saber's back, Rider pulled back her chained nail-blade and leaped upwards, through the hole that Saber had created that breached the top of the building.

Saber followed suit, her status as a Servant allowed her to perform such an impossible feat despite her seemingly-normal appearance.

Now that she's on an open field, Rider knew that she's on her element, the place where her combat style is more likely to achieve success or at least provide a slight advantage. After all, she knew that Saber is the superior fighter in terms of experience, combat capability, and power output.

So guerrilla tactic it shall be.

When Saber reached the rooftop, Rider immediately went into action, she charged with her full speed, her chained nail-blade at the ready and directed it right to Saber's jugular.

She managed to deflect it with minimal effort of course, but Rider already expected that that would be the most logical outcome.

So she didn't stop, she ran with her full speed towards the edges of the rooftop, then she turned towards Saber, her blade at the ready, and with a powerful dash, she struck at her again.

Saber held her ground and anticipate the oncoming attack with her invisible blade posed at the ready, and blocked Rider's oncoming attack.

Her speed proved to be a match to Saber's strength, it was as if a castle being pitted up against powerful armies that laid down constant siege to its walls from every direction imaginable, and yet still standing after it had endured so many attacks.

Saber was a knight. In her lifetime, she fought and won many battles and duels. She had been taught in swordsmanship by Sir Ector, a wise old knight who was trusted by Merlin to teach and care for her. And true to what the knight had assumed, she was very talented, even more so than his own son.

Talented since birth, trained in her childhood, experienced in her techniques, and seasoned in battles. Saber knew, as much as Rider knew, that this battle of attrition is horribly one-sided.

Each and every time, Rider's blade failed to land on Saber's person other than her invisible sword. But due to her speed, the blonde knight also failed to land an attack on the gorgon of legend either.

She was fast, agile, and most importantly, adopting a style of combat that would give her less risks and high potential outcome.

Strike, disengage, recuperate, strike again, then rinse and repeat. The pattern of the combat style was not difficult to perform and it was certainly rather handy for dealing with enemies above her own class. Her superior speed compared to Saber and the open area provided her a slight advantage that she took to deal with the supposedly strongest of all class.

The sounds of steel meeting solidified air echoed across the rooftop, and from afar, one could see a black blur with purple accents attacking a knight clad in blue and silver who defended herself mightily against the barrage of attacks that the Rider was performing.

Both of them were not slouches either, despite her messed up stats, Rider was still a Servant, and as a Servant, her stamina could not be compared to normal humans. And Saber, despite the flawed contract, was given more than enough prana to not only sustain her existence but to fight at her near-peak condition.

So no matter how much she tried to hit Saber's weak spot such as her neck and her head, Saber was more than capable of rebuffing her attempts and as such, her combat tactic yield no success.

'As expected of a Saber...' Rider mulled in the middle of her attacks, 'She gives no room for openings. No doubt she knows about my Noble Phantasms now that she knows my identity... How could I summon _it _when it's obvious that she would prevent it from happening...?'

After a moment of contemplation, Rider smiled before she stopped her attacks altogether and crouched on all fours right at the edge of the rooftop, her blindfold hid the steely gaze of her eyes that she directed towards Saber.

Noticing that Rider was going to change her tactics, she posited a warning to the gorgon, saying; "I know of your eyes Medusa, they will not petrify me, they won't work, not completely at least."

It was true, her Mystic Eyes of Petrifaction's full potential could only be unleashed _if_ and only _if _the enemy does not know of her identity and they do not have A-Rank Anti-Magic skill that belonged to the knight classes and her own. To Saber, it would only serve as a quick paralyzing spell that she could shrug off in seconds.

But...

"It's enough."

As soon as Rider said that, she released Gorgon Breaker and unleashed Cybele, the dreaded eyes that became the basis of her myth. Of the snake-haired woman who could turn people to stone with her gaze alone.

However, her enemy this time was not a normal human.

She was a Servant, a Heroic Spirit of the Sword, whose legend was a couple of times more famous than her own, and equipped with a skill of Anti-Magic granted by the class that she's summoned as.

She would only need a moment to break its hold upon her.

But it was enough.

In that moment, she quickly planted the nail-blade into her neck, and then she savagely slashed her own neck from one side to the other, creating a gash that leaked out a massive amount of blood that sprayed to her surroundings...

That somehow stopped in the air, and converged to create an intricate-looking magic circle in front of Rider.

The action and the following aftermath was enough to surprise Saber, but she became shocked as the magic circle began to glow and produced a large amount of prana that defeated the Bounded Field in terms of consumption.

Then, an eye began to form in the magic circle, a monstrous looking eye that stared right at Saber with a gaze that would've scared a lesser person.

After a moment, the monstrous eye began to rumble, and then, a blast of light came out from the eye's pupil.

It shot towards Saber like lightning, but the knight managed to avoid it, as she knew that it was not something her invisible sword could easily deflect.

After recollecting herself, she saw that the blast of light that had gone past her and was now on the side of the purple-haired woman was nothing more than Rider's Noble Phantasm...

"A Pegasus..." Saber muttered in awe.

Despite having the blood of the dragon inside of her, she had rarely seen a Magical Beast up close, so this was a new experience for her, more so when one realized that this Pegasus came from the Age of the Gods, and it was the same Pegasus that Bellerophon once tamed.

In the case of legends, Servants, and Noble Phantasms... The older the legends' age are, the more powerful they would become when summoned or used. And considering the age of the Pegasus, the sheer power that it held was indescribable.

This was not a mere Magical Beast. This was a Phantasmal Beast, a creature of magic far above the class of other pegasi and equaled the rank that the dragons held due to its age.

A mobile, flying fortress of a creature... Such a formidable Noble Phantasm to be owned.

**"Bellerophon: Bridle of Chivalry."**

With a command, a golden harness, bridle and saddle was formed on the pegasus for a few seconds before it disappeared, integrated into the Phantasmal Beast's very being.

Rider mounted the beast, and it accepted its rider gracefully and took off into the sky, no doubt preparing herself for an attack.

Saber knew the threat that Rider's Noble Phantasm held... And so she released Invisible Air and showed the true form of her sword...

Now no longer bound by Gorgon Breaker, Rider saw the form of the sword that Saber held... She knew immediately that it was a sword made not through the hands of mortal men but by entities of the world. The language written in the sword was an indication of that, a mark that would show that it was more than just a mere sword.

It was the crystallization of the prayer called salvation, and hope. The sword that roused a country born from the ashes of its great predecessor, and wielded by its one true king...

Excalibur. The Sword of Promised Victory.

Rider stifled her curses, the sword's might was already apparent from its craftsmanship alone. It was an A-rank Noble Phantasm that could match if not outright defeat her Bellerophon-equipped Pegasus.

Without anymore prana to be used for another tactic, she realized that this battle might just be her last one in this Holy Grail War. Powerful as it was, the Phantasmal Beast Pegasus was not without weakness. As agile and as formidable as it is, an A-rank offensive prana technique with wide area attack could decimate it with some effort.

And she suspected that the Servant of the Sword's Noble Phantasm was equal to hers in terms of power output. No eyes could see the sword and thought or spoke otherwise.

Truly, there was nothing else in her arsenal that she could use to match the knight but Bellerophon, and that alone might not be enough to defeat the Servant of the Sword.

She was about to let go of her hesitation and charge at the Servant of the Sword while staking her life on the line when...

**"...!"**

She felt a powerful echo from within her mind before it was gone as quickly as it appeared. It was as if someone had broken something within her, something of intrinsic value to her for what she was and then replaced it with something else that seemed similar but essentially different...

After a moment of realization, she smiled. And she almost laughed at knowing what had just happened while she was fighting Saber.

So focused she was in fighting Saber, she had forgotten that there were _two _presence that she had felt when Blood Fort Andromeda was set and then quickly destroyed by the Servant of the Sword's technique.

The other presence was the knight's Master... And judging by the sudden prana input, he had done something to hers...

She shook her head and without saying anything to her enemy, she directed the Pegasus away from the building and into the place where she would be needed the most.

Saber could only watch as the Pegasus-riding Servant flew away without a second glance to her. Knowing that the battle was over abruptly and without any clear victor, she sheathed Excalibur with Invisible Air once more.

"That was quite strange..." she mused.

_"Is it possible that our Master has killed or incapacitated hers?" _her alternate self asked rhetorically. _"But if so... why didn't she vanish?"_

The blonde knight pondered about what her alternate self had said, and her initial thought went along the line of 'Rider had more than enough prana to sustain herself before her imminent disappearance from the physical plane.'. But if that were true, then why did she had to consume people to sustain her existence? Seeing that it contradicted her initial deduction, she then tried to find another explanation, a more reasonable one.

Then, as if she were hit by an epiphany, Saber remembered what the Tohsaka girl had said the day before, a fact about the family that Rider's Master belonged to.

_"The lineage of the Matou family are dying out. By our generation, he's not supposed to have any kind of magic circuits in his body."_

"He was not her true Master." Saber immediately said, her tone apprehensive, "He used some kind of magecraft that would allow him to act as Rider's Master while in reality, he was just-"

"A decoy."

Shirou's voice completing what she was about to say made Saber turn, and then she saw Shirou, looking slightly battered as he was grasping a silver double-edged sword on his hand and his expression was grim, it was not an expression that she had been used to see from him.

"Shinji wasn't a magus. He wasn't the one who summoned Rider. And he wasn't her true Master..." he stated, "It was Sakura."

...

* * *

...

_Moments before..._

His mind was hazy, filled with anxiety, fear, and not to mention, concentrating on withholding his bowel movements so that its contents would not escape without his own volition.

One Shinji Matou could not help but think that the whole world was conspiring against him. At first it was easy, but then Shirou Emiya had to come and ruin his parade. He could defeat Rider, his Servant was Saber, he had allied himself with Tohsaka, how could this be?!

He was supposed to win this thing! By getting the Holy Grail, he would finally be able to get everyone to respect him, to fear him, to obey him.

But why did the universe hate him so? And how the hell did Emiya get so powerful?!

As all of this were filling his mind as he pushed himself to escape the building through the emergency stairs while hoping that his Servant killed Emiya's and if not, well then she's every bit as useless as he had thought.

However, he was stopped in his tracks when he saw the figure of Shirou Emiya, standing in his way, and staring at Shinji with his amber eyes that seemed to be enflamed with his wrath.

"E-Emiya!" Shinji squeaked out in surprise.

"Shinji." Shirou replied, then wordlessly, he extended his hand and using his Tracing, he summoned a sword, a sword made out of special substance that was similar in appearance to silver.

Seeing this, Shinji immediately bolted, he ran back to the floor above him to find someplace where he could hide.

And along the way, Shirou followed him like a hellhound on his trail.

"G-get away! Get awaay!" he screamed as he used his book to somehow control the shadows that surrounded them to attack Shirou.

In response, Shirou merely said...

"Trace on."

And then a set of swords were summoned, all of them brilliant to be gazed upon and each of them held a unique trait.

Which was the ability to dispel magecraft to a certain degree.

"Projection complete. Fire."

Like bullets, the sword blasted through the shadows and nearly got Shinji. Some even landed some small gashes across his body.

"Agh!" Shinji groaned, but despite the pain, he kept on running, fearing for his life as the agent of death that would spell his doom was literally right behind him.

"Trace on."

Once again, Shirou Traced several weapons, but this time, instead of swords, it was daggers, small daggers that numbered in four, each were curved and jagged, giving them a rather grisly feel for they did not look like something that would give a clean-cut wound.

"Projection complete." Shirou used his silver sword as a pointer that was directed to Shinji, "Fire."

Then the daggers were planted into Shinji's limbs that were needed for his mobility, which was the back of his knees and on his heels.

This time, Shinji did scream as numbing pain that he had never felt before in his entire life shot through his nerves like lightning.

He fell down ungracefully, and despite the fact that he could no longer run or walk, he tried to crawl away from Shirou who walked closer and closer to his position. Until finally, he could no longer take it...

And tried to plead, "P-please, Emiya! Please, have mercy!"

Shirou merely scowled as he said; "Did you give your victim a chance to go away before you ordered Rider to consume them? And if they did, did you listen to their plea and let them walk away? No. I don't think you did. And so I will not give you what you deny them."

"I-I'm sorry, alright?! I-I don't have any Magic Circuits so I thought-"

"-That it would be easier to consume people's souls and have your Servant set a Bounded Field where she could consume several innocent souls in one go. Isn't that right?" Shirou asked rhetorically, "Your reason does not help your case, Shinji."

Having no more excuses to use, he tried to set the shadows on him again using his Book of False Attendant...

But when it came down upon Shirou, he used his sword, he swung the sword with precise, necessary movements that gave no room for unneeded motions, and then the shadows were utterly and pathetically destroyed.

And when his amber eyes landed upon his form, Shinji could only whimper, "P-please, Emiya, please..."

When he was but a few inches from him, Shirou moved his sword towards Shinji's body, placed the tip of the sword right on the place where his heart would be...

Then with a swift thrust and without even a blink of an eye that would sign his hesitation, he pierced Shinji's heart and the sword went through his back.

The sword was not a normal sword, however.

The sword could affect one's physical form as much as it could affect one's soul, so as the sword pierced through Shinji's physical form, it allowed Shirou to access Shinji's soul, and in turn, his memories.

Elucide was the name of the sword. A gift from his mentor when he managed to Trace a Noble Phantasm that was not Avalon for the first time. And it was one of his personal weapons that Shirou owned.

He closed his eyes to see what kind of person Shinji was and what kinds of things that he had committed beforehand.

And Shirou was not pleased. Oh no, not at the very least.

When he opened his eyes once more, he saw Shinji, on the brink of death, his eyes filled with fear and his mouth began to drip out blood. The boy tried to form words, but all he could create was unintelligible gargles made due to blood filling his throat.

Shirou's eyes narrowed, he was angry at the boy, and he loathed him even more than before thanks to what he had just seen, but he remained calm despite seeing the world through Shinji's eyes and what he had committed in the name of his ego.

Although that didn't stop him from twisting the blade that pierced his heart...

"...You really are the man that I expect you are, Shinji." Shirou said, "And more so."

Shirou then twisted the sword slightly, adding the pain while also making his death come a little bit faster than it should be.

As Shinji's life began to fade, Shirou could only shake his head in disapproval. After what he had seen through his memories, after what Sakura's 'brother' had done to so many people with the help of Rider who was at his beck and call... Shinji Matou was truly an arrogant and vile human being...

And when the Matou boy finally drew his final breath, he took a deep breath to calm himself and went to close the boy's eyes silently.

But after a moment of silence, Shirou then said, "May whatever higher power that exists have mercy on you... Shinji."

...

* * *

...

_Back at the present._

"Are you okay, Shirou?" Saber asked, assuming that this was the first kill that Shirou had done during the course of his life.

Shirou turned to Saber, his eyes were not as bright as they were before, then he dismissed Elucide and said; "Though this _is_ my first kill, I am strangely okay. (sigh)... My mentor had trained my mentality well, so don't worry about me."

Saber nodded, though she was not convinced that Shirou was completely okay, "Very well Shirou."

_"Hm... I cannot help but feel proud of him. His first kill and he could still hold himself with surprising degree of dignity. He's not a lesser man."_

Unbeknownst to Alter, there was one person who agreed with what she said besides Saber.

...

* * *

...

The King of Uruk had a wide smile on her face, her heart was beating like crazy and her eyes were set upon the redheaded boy from afar that had held himself very well in the situation that had unraveled.

Such ferocity! Such clear conviction! Such unshakable determination! This was a man whose worth exceeded ten men and more. Perhaps even more so, for he had shown courtesy to the little wretch's corpse and gave the pathetic boy some dignity in his death where a lesser man might seek to desecrate it if not outright delayed his death for a chance to torture him as much as he pleased.

"Hm~ I guess it was not a fluke after all. You truly are a man worthy of my attention." she mused. "You alone had redeemed this era in my eyes..." her chuckle reverberate through the cool night air, "And I can't wait to make you mine..."

Mine. Mine. You're mine. That was the sole thought that filled the mind of the King of Heroes.

She will not have this treasure be taken from her like what the gods did to her one friend in the past. When the time comes, she will take him, by force if need be. And she will not allow any competition for his body and heart except for one, and one person only. Her.

If there were any more, then they better not be foolish enough to challenge the King for what is hers. But if they _were _foolish enough, then they shall be welcomed as her consorts, she is not without mercy after all.

She extended her hand towards Shirou, as if trying to grasp him, and said; "Know this, Shirou Emiya. Though your tenacity and resolve might lead you to rebel against my will... I will show you that I can and shall make you mine."

...

* * *

...

_Meanwhile, with a certain Second Owner a couple of minutes before the battle between Saber and Rider occurred..._

Hearing the sound of the school's bell prompted Rin to immediately pack her bags and leave the classroom, filled with the intention to return to her house and prepare for the next day of the Holy Grail War.

'Archer, can you hear me?' she asked through her link.

_"I am. What do you want, Rin?" _he asked.

'Just checking, you know, in case you want to use Independent Action again and leave me in the dark about it.' she replied with rancor apparent in her tone.

_"Why, it seems that you don't trust me Rin." _Archer replied in his ingratiating way of speaking, _"__Is your Servant not someone that you expect him to be? Well, despite that fact, I am still your Servant, Rin. You should have some faith in me."  
_

Her right eye twitched nigh-imperceptibly at that remark, 'Yes, well, faith in a Servant who failed to notice the importance of sharing information with his Master is a leap of faith that I will not take.' she retorted.

Rin sighed before she continued with; 'Never mind that... is your injury still troubling you? I sincerely hope not, what with your usage of Independent Actions.'

_"It's healing quite well. Why? Do you want this wayward Servant to guard you?'"_

'Yes.' Rin answered bluntly, 'As required of you. Emiya-kun is handling Rider, but that doesn't mean that there would be no enemy that would ambush us. Especially with Caster and Assassin still in the dark...'

_"Understood." _Archer replied rather succinctly.

Rin wasn't quite fond of unknown variables. And therefore, she was not comforted by the Caster and Assassin who were still preserving their incognito status despite of what has been going on thus far.

Though the already known variables were not easy enemies to dispose of, such as the Einzbern girl Berserker and the Lancer, at least they had showed themselves along with some of their abilities. So at least she could figure out how to deal with them if they ever confront her again.

With Shirou handling Rider, she needed Archer to guard her. Despite knowing his wound, he had proven himself capable in combat as apparent in his fight with Lancer, and as such, he might be able to withstand fighting with a yet healed injury.

Hopefully she won't have to come to blow with another Master... But that was just hoping for too much luck.

So she walked with care. On the outside, she was still her charming, school idol self, but on the inside, she was the magus who were keeping herself on the edge as to prepare for anything that might befall her.

Fortunately, the brisk but definitely not agitated walk from her class to the gate of the school was quite uneventful, she just had to greet some students and teachers that greeted her at first and sometimes she had to talk a little bit before she could dismiss herself from conversations that she didn't want to be a part of in the first place.

After she was a few yards away from the school, she sighed in relief at finally being able to drop the mask and now could focus herself to mind her surroundings.

Passing by the familiar places that she had passed several times on her way from school to her house and vice versa, Rin kept her senses peeled for anything that might spell her mortal danger.

Paranoid as it might seem, her mindset viewed this thing as something rather normal, for a magus anyway.

There was a saying that said to walk the path of a magus is to walk the path of death. There were no other saying that held such truth, especially with what many magi dealt with in their day-to-day lives. Death always loomed over their lives, and death can always come for them whenever it wanted to.

It could come in the form of their experiments, in the form of their endeavors, in the form of their behind-the-screen politics, and even in the form of supposed allies who ended up stabbing them in their back, either figuratively or literally. Sometimes even both at the same time.

Magi must always exercise caution, up to the point of paranoia if needed be. It was one of the things that Rin Tohsaka had prepared for when she decided to follow in her father's footsteps.

And considering that she's one of the Masters in the Holy Grail War, it was just common sense to feel as if a blade is being placed against her neck most of the time.

Unlike a certain redheaded magus, Rin Tohsaka could not afford to lose her focus by any means necessary.

She only hoped that Archer was taking his duty seriously. As... well, as superstitious as it might sound, she felt a dreadful feeling chilling her spine as she was just halfway to her house.

And then, her feelings was proven true.

"Tohsaka Rin." Someone spoke her name with such a haughty tone, "We meet again. And this time, in the most dangerous of circumstances... wouldn't you say?"

Rin could only grit her teeth, the haughty tone of voice, the proud stance, the laced and elegant-looking blue dress combined with the white-colored gloves, the drill-shaped blonde hair that looked as if it were given a noble's treatment everyday... Such was the physical appearance of...

"Luviagelita Edelfelt..." Rin muttered out her rival's name in contempt as she procured an uneasy grin and narrowed her eyes towards the ojou-like figure standing in front of her, effectively blocking her way.

"Hmph, please wipe that look off your face Tohsaka." Luvia asked of her, "As you might notice, I did not introduce my presence by attacking you out of nowhere so you might as well reciprocate the gesture and keep yourself calm."

"Calm?" Rin asked rhetorically, "Calm? While facing a possible Master right in front of my eyes? I don't think so, Edelfelt."

Luvia merely sighed rather dramatically, "Ha~ how barbaric of you Tohsaka. Can't we settle this like magi? With dignity and elegance? And to be frank, I am not here to fight you."

"Then what are you here for?" Rin asked, still not letting her guard down despite what her rival just said.

"I am here to announce my status as the Master of this Fifth Holy Grail War. But then again, despite your barbarism, you _are _quite intelligent... So I suppose you already deduced that I had been one ever since I was absent from school."

Rin didn't confirm nor deny that, instead, she merely said; "Magi are supposed to be pragmatic, Edelfelt. Announcing your status as a Master here is an idiotic move to make."

"But it is something that an honorable magus would do." Luvia retorted, "And I would be nothing if not that... So. With that said, I shall introduce myself. I am Luviagelita Edelfelt. The heir to the old family of Edelfelt that hailed from Finland. And I am here to participate in the Holy Grail War like my predecessors had done once before. And let it be known that I shall stand and fight for my family's name until my defeat or victory."

...Rin got to hand it to her, she really knows how to boast. And as a response, Rin said; "You know me already so let's get this over with."

Luvia shook her head at that and said; "Such a thing to say after what I've just said... Very well then then Tohsaka, if you so insist on getting this over with, then I shall introduce my Servant. I hope you shall reciprocate _this _gesture."

Then, a Servant came into being and stood besides the young magus of the Edelfelt family...

The Servant was a woman with fair skin and long red hair, slicked back so that her unblemished fair skin on her forehead was shown. She wore a skin-tight body suit that looked strikingly similar to the one that Lancer wore, except it was colored in red. Blood red or crimson-shaded red, once Rin got a closer look at her.

Instead of a pair of pauldrons however, there was a set of cloth that looked similar to the lower part of a robe colored in black strapped to her hips and reached to her ankles. The woman wielded what looked like a massive halberd that she casually grasped and leaned on her shoulder as if its weight didn't hinder her whatsoever.

The Servant gazed at Rin with her crimson eyes, her face was both beautiful and frightening at the same time. It was as if staring into the eyes of a legendary killer. But yet, the woman smiled, rather amused for inexplicable reasons.

This time, Rin ended up reciprocating the gesture of her rival's by summoning Archer, who in turn, looked rather troubled by similarly inexplicable reasons.

The red woman then said to Archer; "Ah, a pleasure to meet you, fellow Servant."

"Have we met before?" asked Archer.

"No. You haven't met me until now." said Luvia's Servant, "But I _have _seen you, and what you are capable of. A peculiar Servant you are."

After the Servant said her piece, Luvia continued with; "Tohsaka Rin... Meet my Servant, Caster."

...

* * *

**End of Chapter 6**

* * *

So Caster has been revealed. And as you can see... she's not Medea of Colchis.

But I've given you a clue in the form of her attire. From it, you can guess which mythology that she hailed from. (Hint: Tight bodysuits was worn by a certain class in both Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night, and both of them also came from the same mythology source...)

So with this, I can safely say that Assassin won't be a certain swordsman with a borrowed name.

See you at the next chapter!


End file.
